


New King of the Vampires

by Dragonsteamfan



Category: Forever Knight, Subspecies (1991)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-13
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-01 09:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5200508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonsteamfan/pseuds/Dragonsteamfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Vampire Prince Stefan Valescu Vladislav takes the throne his cradle guard Nick Knight is there in the center of all the fuss.  The world discovering the truth about vampires really wasn't helping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

Title: The New King of the Vampires

Universe: This is a crossover between Forever Knight and the first Subspecies movie

Disclaimer: This is a piece of fanfiction. I do not own anything other than the plot.

Warnings: I am taking liberties with both the Forever Knight universe and the Subspecies universe, mostly in adjusting them to work together. 

I do not care for how the Subspecies movies eliminated Stefan and turned Michelle into a vampire tied to Radu. So, for those of you who have seen the movie series – in this story, Karl burst in before Michelle could be bitten and Radu did not survive Stefan removing his head. Radu’s little minions do not exist either.

In the Forever Knight universe this story takes place after the episode “Fever” and goes AU from there. Also, Detective Schanke did not die in the 3rd season premier and is still partners with Nick Knight. Tracy Vetter is serving out her rookie year as a detective under their combined guidance thanks to her father’s interference.

 

Castle Vladislas, Romania 

 

Vladislav Valescu, King of the Vampires, had sired two sons who could not be more different. Radu, the eldest, as twisted in mind as he was in body, was a terror who craved blood and power. Stefan, the younger, was the child of his beloved, who took his father’s teachings to heart and did his best to live in peace with the mortal world. The two had never liked each other. Radu was jealous of the attention given to his younger brother, and hated the fact that Stefan’s mother had replaced his own. Stefan hated the fact that Radu had tormented his mortal mother while she lived, but Stefan had never thought that Radu’s madness would lead him to murder their father.

Radu hadn’t bothered to adhere to Vlad’s rules for his sons or the agreement with Prejmar village after killing him. The agreement was that in exchange for the castle, (since named for Vladislav), and a stone from the Vatican that dripped the blood of all the saints, no vampire would hunt in Prejmar. Radu had immediately begun hunting after the murder of their father – both for consorts and to feed. He had also ignored his responsibilities to the Vampire kingdom, choosing to indulge in his own desires instead. Stefan had found his father’s dead body in the throne room of Castle Vladislas upon his return home from his studies abroad, and it did not take long for him to discover what his brother was up to – not with Radu first strangling him for fun and then taunting him about the three young lady scholars studying at Prejmar Fortress. 

The current mortal government maintained the Fortress as a historical monument, and the library was open to a few scholars every year. Stefan’s friend Karl was the caretaker there – an important position for one of the few villagers who openly interacted with the vampires who journeyed through Prejmar to reach Castle Vladislas.

Stefan had known Karl from the time the old man was a child. As a small boy Karl had been left behind by his elder brothers, who had not wanted to play with a pesky tagalong, and had gotten lost in the woods after dark. The two had bonded over tales of terrible older brothers, (although Stefan had toned down the tales of Radu’s evil until Karl was much older), as Stefan had carried the boy back to the village. The lecture he had read to the older boys had gratified their mother, even as she was terrified that the prince would claim her youngest son as a meal. The boys had promised that they would never leave their baby brother alone outside of the village again. Karl’s brothers had kept their word to the vampire prince, even to the point of following their baby brother to the capital when Karl had gone for the higher education which resulted in his becoming caretaker for the Fortress.

Karl had learned which of the vampires that often traveled to Castle Vladislas to avoid, and which were safe to deal with through his friendship with Stefan, and was generally happy with his position in his village. However he was scared to death of Radu and had rejoiced when the evil vampire had finally been exiled by the king. He was not happy to hear that Radu had returned, but was not surprised to learn that Radu had killed King Vladislav. Karl did what he could to prepare to help Stefan hunt Radu down, and showed Stefan the weapons that he had – long stakes carved from oak, an axe to chop Radu’s head off, and a shotgun. When Stefan had protested, Karl had shown that he wasn’t a total fool. He had emptied the shotgun shells and filled them with rosary beads – carved of wood.

Stefan told Karl to get the girls out of Prejmar the next morning, without telling them the truth of what was happening, or that he was a vampire. Karl chastised him for falling for the scholar named Michelle, knowing that his friend would only get his heart broken when the woman died, just as his father, the king, had when Stefan’s mortal mother died centuries before, especially when Stefan had admitted that Michelle had eyes like his mother, eyes that made him want again. 

Their plan failed. Radu had already attacked one of the two blond girls, the one named Lillian, and Michelle walked in on yet another attack coming back from the festival the village held each year to celebrate King Vlad’s defeat of the Turk army 500 years previous. Stefan was forced to tell her everything – from the fact that he and Radu were half-brothers to the fact that while Radu was mad and hunted indiscriminately, he did not. He worried that the woman he was falling in love with would declare him as great a monster as his brother, but she did not. He was simply grateful for that although she was skittish, she did not reject him completely.

The next night Stefan learned that the last girl, Mara, hadn’t come back from the village, and that Lillian had died before she could be moved from the Fortress. He hid Karl and Michelle at the local church, explaining to her that no vampire could enter the house of the Lord without invitation. He then went to rescue Mara. Unfortunately his brother was waiting for him and captured him, forcing him to watch as he used Mara and forced her to drink his blood, starting the process of turning her into one of his consorts.

It wasn’t long after that, that Stefan’s worst fear was realized. Lillian, (now one of Radu’s consorts as well), and Mara dragged Michelle into the throne room where he was chained to a doorway. She was thrown onto a pile of hay bales covered with a sheet in a terrible parody of a marriage bed. No matter how hard he struggled, he could not break the chains imprisoning him. Just as Radu was about to bite Michelle, Karl burst in and shot Mara, killing the fledgling vampire with the rosary beads he had prepared earlier. 

During the struggle that followed Stefan was freed to take on Radu with the only weapons at hand – old swords that had lain around the throne room for centuries. Karl and Michelle did what they could to deal with Lillian, but the fight was chaotic at best. In the end Stefan was able to stab Radu in the heart with a flaming spear, and then he chopped Radu’s head off with a war axe. Karl was able to do the same with Lillian after Stefan had dropped a chandelier on the vampire. Stefan held Michelle so that she did not have to witness her friend’s decapitation, and murmured into her ear that it was all over.

“Stefan, the sun is rising,” Karl said, sagging with exhaustion.

Stefan nodded. He could feel the familiar instinct to find somewhere to hide becoming more insistent, but honestly he was too tired to care much. With a sigh he turned, and still holding Michelle’s hand he started towards the stairs. He snagged the bloodstone up from the floor where Radu had dropped it during the fight and put it in his pocket. He would have to sleep in his father’s crypt today. There was no time to reach his own. Then he winced as he realized that the metal coffin now belonged to him because he was now king. Becoming the king was the last thing he wanted, but as the only royal vampire left he had no choice.

They reached the royal chamber and Stefan opened the crypt, shrugged his long leather duster off, and lay the coat in the crypt. He then pulled his sweater off and used it to wipe Michelle’s neck, examining it carefully for even the slightest scratch. “It’s just drool, which is disgusting enough,” Michelle reassured him.

“Well, that was not just because of you. He never tried to curb any habit he had, not even ones that disgusted other vampires,” Stefan admitted. “Michelle, would you do me the honor of becoming my lady?”

“You’re asking me now?” she asked, incredulous.

Stefan shrugged. “This is about as bad as it gets. The rest is just politics. If you want to forget that vampires exist, to turn your back on this life, I certainly won’t try to stop you, but if you are willing to stay, then I want to make my feelings clear.”

“I’m not giving up my doctorate, not after everything,” Michelle said firmly.

Stefan laughed softly and shook his head. He had already thought about introducing Michelle to Aristotle, the vampire court archivist. “I would not ask you to.”

“Then I’ll see you at sunset,” Michelle smiled and kissed Stefan before leaving the room. She paused at the door and turned back to look at him. “That’s a yes, by the way.” She grinned mischievously as she left. Stefan could not contain his smile as he settled into his new coffin. As the lid settled down over him, he was swept away into dreams of his beloved scholar. 

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The first thing that Michelle wanted was her clothes. Fortunately Lillian had just thrown them into a corner when Mara and Lillian had forced her to change into the flimsy chemise she was now wearing. She quickly ran down the stairs and into the dungeon, finding the corner where her clothes lay in a pile. A fast change in which she had been tempted to throw the gown away, but changed her mind, and she ran back up the stairs to the throne room. There she found Karl raising the chandelier that had Stefan had dropped on Lillian.

Michelle threw the gown onto the hay bale bed set against one wall of the throne room. She was going to burn that bed, and the gown as well. No one needed the reminder that Radu had almost raped her in front of Stefan on that bed. It had only been Karl coming in and shooting Mara that had stopped him. “I am sorry about your friends,” Karl said, as he joined her next to the bed.

Michelle looked over at the bodies. Mara and Lillian had been her best friends from the time the three of them had met in college. It wasn’t easy for young women who were interested in folklore enough to attempt to get their PhDs in the subject to find friends with the same interests. Most geeks these days were into computers or science fiction, and those who were not geeks rarely understood her interests in old books and fairy tales. Mara lay on the stone floor, with dark stains along the front of her gown from the shotgun residue. Lillian had terrible tear marks where the chandelier had fallen on her, and Karl had chopped off her head. Neither had bled much, but Michelle could understand that, considering the fact that they had been turned.

Michelle’s mind turned away from the horror of seeing her dead friends and back to the practicalities. She’d never been one to panic and have hysterics, fortunately. She’d always been the one to take charge in an emergency. “Karl, we need some way to transport the bodies back to the village.”

“I have a wagon back at the Fortress,” Karl offered, wondering what the young woman was up to.

“Good, then when we get them to the village, you need to tell whoever needs to know that Radu killed the king so that he could hunt in Prejmar. The king’s son executed him for his actions, and is giving them the bodies to show them that he is honoring the agreement made between his father and the village,” Michelle said. “That way the proper authorities can do whatever paperwork is necessary, and the village will calm down because they know that they aren’t going to be hunted.” 

“The bodies have to be cremated. If Mara or Lillian’s families want their daughter’s remains, we cannot let them see what really happened,” Karl told her gently.

“Better that, than letting them know that they were turned into vampires,” Michelle agreed.


	2. The family curse

Sitting on one of the battlements of Castle Vladislas, Michelle checked her watch. It was time for the skype call to her family. She wasn’t eager to make the call, but she really had no choice. Her parents had set up her laptop with a mobile hotspot and a solar charger just so that she could call them and they were expecting her. She was just glad that she also had a satellite phone so she had been able to call Lillian’s family and tell them the story that the village officials had come up with – that Radu had been infected with an illness that had driven him mad, and that Lillian’s body would not be returned due to the possibility of spreading the infection.

With a sigh, she booted up her laptop and made the call. “Hi everyone,” she said.

“Hey honey! How’s the research coming?” Isabel Morgan asked. The dark haired woman was wearing a peasant blouse and long skirt and was surrounded by her husband, Mark, daughter Becky, and son David.

“Well, the research is going well, but…..I met _him_ , Mom, when I got here,” she admitted. It was best to get that part of what had happened to her out of the way first. After all, it was the biggest thing that had happened since they got here.

“ **OH** **HONEY**! Are you alright?” Isabel checked what she could see of her daughter through the webcam.

“I’m going to have nightmares forever, but I’m just bruised. Mara and Lillian didn’t make it though. Is it terrible to wish whoever came up with the fairy tale curse and put it on our family into the deepest, darkest, pit of hell?” Michelle sighed.

“How bad was it?” Becky asked. She hadn’t met her ‘prince’ yet, but being only two years younger than Michelle, she knew it was just a matter of time now.

“Do either of you need any help with the local authorities?” Mark asked, grabbing the folder off of his desk that held the list of people he knew to contact who could help if Michelle if she ran into any sort of trouble.

“No, it’s fine. The local police are blaming Radu’s madness on an illness. He killed Mara and Lillian as well as his father and one of the old women storytellers in the village. I came within millimeters of being number five on Radu’s ‘I’m crazy so I’m going to kill everyone my little brother cares about, even if he doesn’t actually like them,’ list. Stefan ended up having to kill Radu. Capturing him wasn’t an option,” Michelle admitted. “I’m going to have nightmares for a very long time about this.”

“Whatever you do, do _NOT_ turn your Stefan down,” was Isabel’s advice. “You remember the stories about what happened to your grandmother when she decided that the curse wasn’t real.”

“I already said yes,” Michelle said firmly. “I do not need to repeat the ‘save her life’ portion of the curse with it getting worse each time until I admit that, yes this is the guy for me. Whoever glorified fairy tales was an idiot.”

“You can’t curse Disney, sis,” David said with a laugh.

“Well, you have to admit that the formula of ‘meet the guy, fall in love, and three to seven days later he saves your life,’ is all fine and dandy in theory, but it’s hell in practice,” Michelle insisted. “Our lives are more Brothers Grimm than Disney Princess.”

“Murdering step-mothers, psychotic siblings, cannibals, kidnappers - why do you think that your dad and I insisted that you and your brother and sister have every lesson in self-defense and survival that we could think of?” Isabel asked. “We knew what you would be up against, and we are all too aware that not everyone survives the tale. My sister didn’t.”

“At least David gets to play prince instead of helpless maiden when his time comes,” Michelle said sourly.

“Yeah, but that means I have to be the one to figure out how to rescue the girl and then go in and get it done without her being killed in the process. Dad’s got me studying for a paramedic license, not to mention he’s got his old army buddies beating on me three times a week,” David protested.

“Someday a girl’s life is going to be in your hands. Are you going to let her die because you didn’t prepare enough?” Mark said pointedly.

“So what’s your prince like?” Becky asked, ignoring the looks her father and brother were shooting at each other.

Michelle hesitated for a moment, struck by the fact that her prince actually had been a prince when they’d met, as well as wondering how to get around the fact that he was a vampire. “He’s a Gryffindor; brave, sweet, kind, and he swings a mean sword. His family owns the local castle - well he does now since he’s the only one left alive. It’s very, very old, almost in ruins because none of the locals want to get near the place. It’s going to be interesting fixing this place up enough to live here for more than a couple of weeks. The village is at least a hundred miles, probably more from the nearest electrical station and about two hundred from Bucharest.”

“Honey, I am all over it,” Isabel cackled. “You know how much I love the ‘old stuff’ as your dad puts it. There are lots of things that have been developed over the last few decades for living a non-electric lifestyle. How self-sufficient are you going to need to be?”

“Why do the locals avoid the castle?” Mark wanted to know.

Michelle grinned. She had an idea that should not only work with her family, but with her dissertation as well. “Because that’s where the vampires live, Dad. Stefan and his family are, well were, allergic to sunlight. Mom, we’re going to have to be fairly self-sufficient, but I have a feeling we’re going to be doing a lot of traveling too. Stefan has to deal with taking over his father’s business, and I have my dissertation. Fortunately living here at least part of the time I’ll have access to all of the documents I need.”

“If he swings a mean sword, do think he could teach me? That’s one weapon I haven’t learned yet,” David asked, distracted from the disagreement with his dad.

“He’s going to be very busy for a while. He could probably recommend someone to teach you though,” Michelle said. A clattering below caught her attention and she leaned over the wall to see that Karl was driving a horse drawn wagon up to the castle. Two elderly men sat on either side of him and two young men sat in the wagon itself. She could also see that there were two coffins in the bed of the wagon, coffins that the young men were trying to avoid without getting out of the wagon. “Sorry guys, I’m going to have to cut this short. I need to open the gates to let Karl in.”

“Send me pictures of the kitchen, honey, and I’ll get started right away,” Isabel said as they signed off.

“Bye!”

“Bye!”

Michelle closed her laptop and hurried down the stairs to open the door to the main hall. Karl and the two elderly men carried one coffin in while the young men did the same for the other. Michelle could see that the younger men were quite frightened, but trying to hide it. That could only mean one thing – these coffins contained vampires. They had probably come to Vladislas to see Stefan for some reason.

She shut the door and watched as Karl opened each of the coffins, helping the two inside up. Michelle was amused to see that the man was holding a computer tablet that he had obviously been working on. The lady was elegant, and had a cloak covering her very modern dress. Her sheer poise, even as Karl helped her out of her coffin would have been intimidating to Michelle if she hadn’t grown up around socialites of all sorts.

“Lady Janette, Archivist Aristotle, be made known to Michelle Morgan, chosen of his majesty,” Karl made the introductions.

Janette curtsied. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady, but please forgive me, I must go tend to his majesty.” With that, she ran for the stairs, Aristotle right behind her.

The mortals looked at each other. “Let’s head back to the Fortress,” Michelle suggested. Karl agreed, and chivied the other men ahead of him. None of them really wanted to be here when the two new vampires found out what Radu had done.

 

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Janette raced up the stairs to the royal crypt, her heart in her throat. There was no way that King Vladislav had taken another mortal to his bed. The death of her prince’s mother had devastated the king. He had actually grown old in his grief. “Please tell me that what I think happened, didn’t happen,” Aristotle asked her as they opened the door to the royal crypt.

“Of course it did. There’s no way a mortal girl would be the chosen of Vladislav. Either Radu or Stefan is king now,” Janette snapped quietly. She fell to her knees beside the royal crypt, her cloak shielding her from the weak light shining through the stained windows. Aristotle hovered in the shadows by the door. She lifted the crypt’s lid and sighed with relief. It was Stefan who lay in the metal coffin. Her prince lived. It mattered not to her that Radu had killed the king, or how he had died, only that the threat to her prince, no her _king_ , was gone.

The two vampires settled in to wait. While a vampire who had been born human could stay awake during the day as long as they avoided sunlight, a royal vampire slept when the sun was up. Stefan would not wake until sunset. “His majesty will need to speak to the council as soon as possible,” Aristotle muttered, working furiously on his tablet. “You’ll need to call your sire, and Nicholas. Even with his majesty taking his duties seriously and choosing a mortal so soon, until there is an heir he’ll need his personal guard.”

“Stefan approved of Nicola’s pursuit of a career in law enforcement. He arranged to ‘ride along’ with Nicola and his partner the last time his duties brought him to Toronto. He told me that having someone he trusted not to underestimate mortals learning how they tracked killers these days, and being there to cover up anyone’s sloppiness was important,” Janette said, trying to figure out how to have Nick remain a homicide detective, (since both her brother and their king would insist on it), and still carry out his duties as the king’s personal guard. “How on earth do you make that thing last so long? I could hear you working on it for hours while we traveled.”

Aristotle smiled and pulled out a battery pack from his pocket. “Lots of extra batteries, so to speak, and that pretty little coroner, Doctor Lambert, does the job well enough.”

“Doctor Lambert is only one mortal, and she still needs to be supervised,” Janette pointed out. “Not to mention Vachon and his little pet detective. Nicola has had mortal ‘friends’ before who were aware and he has always dealt well with the issue. The Spaniard is new to the responsibility.”

“So, tell LaCroix that the Raven is now the king’s and I’ll have the council meet in Toronto. The Raven might not be as full of the young as when you were in charge, but it is still the major gathering place for our people in that city,” Aristotle told her. “Nick can go about his duties as a cop and still guard the king at the same time.”

Janette hummed in agreement as she noticed the state of her hands. “Ugh, I need to get someone to come in here and clean. This place is filthy.” She wiped her dusty hands on a handkerchief.


	3. New Information

Stefan woke to hear the sounds of two people nearby, but no mortal heartbeats. That meant that there were two vampires in the royal chamber. Michelle was probably down at the Fortress. He had found that she had a tendency to get caught up in her research. Good, that meant that he could deal with the vampires without needing to explain himself. He sat up, pushing the lid of the crypt open. “Janette, Aristotle,” he greeted the two vampires.

“Your majesty,” they both said; Janette with a curtsey and Aristotle with a bow.

“Radu killed our father six days ago, and I executed Radu three nights after,” Stefan said, confirming their theory. “But you didn’t guess that simply from finding me sleeping in my father’s crypt.”

“Karl introduced us to your chosen, your majesty,” Janette said simply. She did not expect Stefan’s reaction.

He slammed both of them into the wall, his hands around their throats. “You will not mention her to anyone or I will rip out your hearts!” he growled. “I will not have the council treat her as they did my mother!”

Aristotle vigorously nodded while Janette’s eyes widened in understanding. “That is easily enough prevented, my liege,” Janette said. “If you marry the girl, no one would dare mistreat her.”

“I’ve known her less than a week. It’s only been days since she agreed to be my lady. It will take time for an heir to be conceived and I want her safe from the council until then,” Stefan insisted.

“Then marry her before the child is conceived. Your father married your mother almost three years before you were born,” Janette told him.

“My parents were married?!” Stefan was so startled by the information that he let both vampires go.

“Yes, they were. Of course, it was kept very quiet because of that hellbitch and her son, but they were married. My lady wasn’t interested in being queen, so it did not bother her not to have the truth acknowledged. The only thing that was important to her was that her marriage was known to God,” Janette said.

“Who knew?” Stefan wanted to know.

“Myself, Nicola, the Pope and Abbot of the time, and your parents,” Janette told him. “The Abbot married them.”

“I’m surprised that the Abbot wasn’t excommunicated for that if the Pope knew,” Aristotle said. “Marrying a local girl off to one of us demons,” he shrugged at Janette’s look.

“The Abbot didn’t bother to ask for permission. The Pope didn’t find out until my lady journeyed to Rome to have her son. By then it was too late, and everyone was far more concerned that….” She trailed off.

“They were far more concerned that I be born alive and sane,” Stefan finished for her.

“Yes,” Janette admitted. The fear of both princes being insane had driven her and Nicola to taking her lady to Rome, in the company of a group of monks. It had been the most uncomfortable journey of her entire life. “Even the Pope understood the dangers of one of our kings falling to madness, especially as our kings rule for so long. It was he who gave you the bloodstone.”

“He gave me the bloodstone?” Stefan hoped that Janette didn’t have much more in the way of world altering information for him.

“He felt that it was the reason God had created the stone in the first place. A vampire prince, the heir the throne, raised on the blood of saints would, he hoped, one day bring peace between our people and mortals. He wanted us to stop hunting mortals of course, but we were desperate enough that we agreed to do anything if he could preserve your sanity,” Janette said.

“And now that I’ve taken the throne, our people have mostly given up hunting. Not to mention that I have never hunted a mortal,” Stefan said, rubbing his eyes. This was enough to give him a headache.

“Well, not for a meal anyway,” Janette said with a smirk.

Stefan shot her a glare, although it wasn’t nearly as grim as the one previous. “You are far too interested in my sex life,” he grumbled.

“Your lady mother charged me with looking after you once she had died. I think that you’ve grown into a man who will lead our people well,” Janette said, reaching out and smoothing down his hair. “But you need a haircut as soon as we get into a more civilized area.”

Stefan rolled his eyes. Janette had always mothered him, although she had deferred to his mother until her death, and he knew she wasn’t about to stop now simply because he was king. “How long will it take you to organize a wedding?” he asked.

Janette considered for a moment, then said, “Six months, I think. It will depend upon whether or not I have to coordinate with her family or not, and six months is plenty of time if you insist on being traditional and having a pregnant bride.”

“I will not shame her to her family,” Stefan said sternly. He sighed. “I will see about meeting her family as soon as possible. Have you begun calling the council yet?” he asked Aristotle.

“Yes, my liege. I’m directing them to Toronto, as that is where Nicholas is living at the moment,” Aristotle reported.

“Good,” Stefan said, knowing that everyone would insist that he stay near his cradle guard until his heir was born. Being the only royal left alive was going to be a pain, but thanks to Radu it could not be helped. “Once you have that organized, create a census. I want to know how many vampires there are, and an estimate of how many rogues there might be. Make special note of those who are unable to follow mortal laws, like those who abuse children or those who refuse to feed from donations, and those who are inclined to enforcement work. Even if they are not overly inclined to be executioners, I do have work for them in the King’s Guard. I also want you to make any records we have available to my lady about the siege of Prejmar and the years following, for say thirty to fifty years or so. She’s a scholar and that is her area of study right now. Janette, help her with translations when you can,” he ordered. “Now, have you both fed?”

“No, my liege,” they chorused. Stefan nodded and pulled the bloodstone out of his pocket. This was how his father had taught him a king should act – to take care of his people first, and himself second.

 

New York City

 

“Good Lord honey, how in the world did these guys manage to live in this place? You weren’t kidding when you said it was a wreck,” Isabel said, looking over the pictures that Michelle had brought back from Vladislas. “Are the wells usable? I’m assuming from the looks of the place that there is no running water at all.” The two women were sitting in the living room of Isabel and Mark’s New York City apartment, making plans for updating the castle and for Michelle’s wedding.

“No running water, but the well in the kitchen is still clear. The one in the courtyard has fallen in. Stefan’s dad was the only one who lived there full time, and he went into the village to have the things he had to have done taken care of. From what I understand when Stefan’s mom died, he pretty much became a hermit. Radu was kicked out of the castle and Stefan was the one taking care of the family business. Karl told me that he wasn’t surprised when Stefan told him that he’d come home to find his father dead. Karl knew immediately that Radu had killed his father.”

Isabel sighed. “So many unhappy stories,” she said, referring to the situations the family curse had put them in as she moved a group of pictures to the front of the pile. “These are the stoves that I picked out. All of them are wood cookstoves, and they all have water reservoirs. You keep them filled with water, loaded by bucket, and as long as the stove is being used, the water stays hot. This one has a five gallon capacity and a spigot, which I honestly think is a major plus, most of them don’t have one.”

“How do you take care of it though? I mean, water and iron generally don’t mix,” Michelle questioned.

“The reservoir is lined with copper and the water doesn’t touch the rest of the stove. As for care, use rainwater whenever you can, and if you can’t, then take a clean rock and wrap a cotton rag around it, then put that in the reservoir. Take it out once a week and clean out the reservoir with rainwater. The rag will collect any mineral deposits,” Isabel told her.

“Now I know where I got my research tendencies from,” Michelle said with a laugh. “Is there anything you didn’t look up?” The living room was full of folders covering everything from bridal gowns to wood cookstoves to bedroom furniture to resumes of possible workers to transportation schedules.

“Your Stefan’s family,” Isabel said serenely.

Michelle knew what her mother was pointedly not asking. “Stefan’s dad was a silent partner in a lot of small businesses; nightclubs, blood donation centers, medical research, radio stations. He really diversified, plus he was a recluse who lived in the mountains of Romania. He definitely didn’t make it into New York’s who’s who list.”

“Pish, like I care about that. I’m more concerned that you’ll be spending so much time traveling that you won’t have time to finish your dissertation,” Isabel said. “I know how hard you’ve been working on that.”

“Actually, we’ll be spending most of our time in Toronto for the first year, with trips back to Prejmar every couple of months so that I can do more research. I’ve actually found an almost completely unknown folk tale in connection to the defeat of the Turkish army. I’ve already talked to my professors and they’d like me to include at least one chapter, if not several, on how this tale shows how the villagers explained the fact that several years after the Turkish army died, the villagers stopped dying from vampire attacks,” Michelle said, enthusiastically.

“Good, just remember that ‘happily ever after’ doesn’t come with a guaranteed doctorate,” Isabel pointed out.

Michelle laughed. She’d heard that one before. “You and Dad have always said that compromise was the key to a good marriage, and I’m taking that advice to heart. Stefan already agreed that he wouldn’t ask me to give up my doctorate and I’ve already agreed to not use birth control. I don’t mind starting a family right away, and it’s not like having a doctorate in mythology is going to get me a demanding job. I’ll have time to raise a family.”

“Traveling with kids is not an easy proposition,” Isabel pointed out.

“I know, but I’ll have plenty of help. Janette is already planning the wedding reception and will probably want to jump into coordinating the rest of the wedding with you as soon as I introduce the two of you tonight.”

“Janette?” Isabel asked.

“She was Stefan’s mother’s personal assistant. Remember, Stefan’s mother was a peasant girl from Prejmar. She had no clue about the modern world. Janette helped her with everything from a visit to Rome, to Stefan’s learning how to walk. He says she’s like the ultimate big sister. She even insisted that he get a haircut before he could meet you guys tonight,” Michelle giggled.

It had been extremely funny watching Janette boss Stefan around concerning his hair and clothes. Later when they’d been alone she’d asked him why he let her get away with it. He’d told her that while Janette had no true ability to overrule him, all she had to do was look at him and suddenly he felt like he was five years old and in trouble again.


	4. Informing the General

  **Toronto, Canada**

Stefan slouched in a comfortable chair in his hotel suite and watched the ancient vampire in front of him pace. Lucien LaCroix, once a Roman general, was just over 2,000 years old, an age that few vampires reached. It wasn’t that they aged or grew old of course; merely that they grew careless. Unlike the Royal vampires, a single sunbeam could kill a vampire who started out as a mortal human. Royal vampires could endure some early morning or late evening light but the moment the sun was truly up, they slept - and if they were far from their crypts and exposed to the light, they died.

“HOW COULD HE HAVE DARED!” Lucien roared.

“It hardly matters now. Radu killed Father and I beheaded Radu for that and for violating the agreement with Prejmar village.” The key he had found to dealing with the members of the Council of Elders was to remain calm. They had a tendency to throw temper tantrums and otherwise act like small children and someone needed to keep a cool head.

“No vampire may hunt in Prejmar,” Lucien said. He stopped his pacing and faced his king. The sight was enough to enrage him once again. Stefan was merely a child, only a few centuries beyond being a fledgling.

Stefan nodded. “Tell that to Radu. You know perfectly well he was mad. He didn’t care about the agreement, he only cared about the power to satisfy his own desires. I had no choice but to destroy him after what he had done.”

“I should have never have taken Nicholas from your side. He is your cradle guard and you needed him!” Lucien was certain that Stefan wasn’t telling him everything. Radu had to have made an attempt on Stefan’s life as well. The elder son had gone so far as to kill his brother’s mortal mother.

“I’m 485 years old, Lucien. I’m no longer a child who must be guarded and watched over every waking moment. I know that to you and the others on the Council I will always be a child but I am old enough to take care of the situation myself and I did.”

Lucien was about to verbally tear the boy a new hole when he realized that the look Stefan was giving him was daring him to say anything else. Lucien didn’t dare cross the boy, he realized. Stefan was the king and even more importantly, he was the only Royal vampire left alive. All it would take was a single word and the Enforcers would be presenting Stefan with his head. “You should not have had to deal with Radu alone. That was why Nicholas was made your cradle guard in the first place.” Lucien sat himself down abruptly on the couch. “Very well, what is done is done. I will see to it a mortal is brought to you,” Lucian said.

“My lady would have you staked for even considering such an action,” Stefan interrupted. He knew exactly what LaCroix was talking about, but even considering the fact that the elder vampire had been born in the Roman Empire and had done more than his share of capturing slaves for his mortal emperor, it was not something that Stefan could or would tolerate now.

“Your lady?” LaCroix asked, startled.

“It has been a full month since my father’s death. Did you think me so wrapped up in my own desires like my brother that I would not see to my duty as soon as possible? We will be wed in five months,” Stefan said flatly.

“You would wed so soon?” LaCroix was astonished, and it showed. He really hadn’t expected this boy to be ready to deal with anything, much less something so important. He’d thought that the boy would be far too romantic and want to wait until he’d found the ‘right’ mortal woman.

“If there was one lesson I learned from mine and my brother’s circumstances it was that not making my choice clear from the start is a grave mistake. The fact that Radu and I both had equal claims to the throne caused far too much trouble over the centuries,” Stefan reminded him.

“Any lady I choose must be a benefit to my kingdom. My lady hunted Radu. She knew what he was, and she still tried to track him down in his crypt to stake him. She held off one of Radu’s consorts with a flaming torch while Radu and I battled. Her bravery is unquestionable. She is pursuing a doctorate which speaks to her intelligence, and most importantly she is willing to marry me knowing exactly what I am and who I am,” Stefan concluded.

“Now, what is the status of the community here in Toronto,” Stefan asked, wanting to move beyond the subject of his needing an heir.

“Toronto has no immediate problems. We have had our problems with young ones being sloppy, but nothing that has required Enforcer intervention. The one time we came close, Nicholas dealt with the situation and the Enforcers needed to execute no one. We will be able to host your majesty and the Council for as long as necessary,” LaCroix said.

“That being said, we do have two mortals who are aware of our existence here. Both are under observation as are the vampires who are responsible. The first is Doctor Lambert. She has proven herself to be invaluable, first in covering up any sloppiness by the children and of course, in finding the cure to the Fever before it could destroy us all. The other is Tracy Vetter. She is a detective with the Toronto Police Department. She is currently serving her rookie year (whatever that is) with Nicholas and Detective Schanke as her partners. She does NOT know that Nicholas is a vampire. His position means that he has been able to watch her closely,” LaCroix listed.

“The vampire who revealed himself to her is Javier Vachon, the Conquistador. His master died after bringing him and his vampire twin across. He has had to fumble about without a proper education but he has done reasonably well. I believe that the reason he hasn’t killed her is because he cares for her. I really don’t know why he just doesn’t bring her across but that’s none of my business. As far as anyone can tell, neither of the ladies has broken the Code,” LaCroix finished.

“I will need to speak to them both later.” Stefan scrubbed his hand over his face. Mortal royalty or country leaders had it easy. All they had to do was look after a single country. His subjects were spread out all over the world and they were a passionate people. The only things that held them in check were the Code (the laws that all vampires lived by) and the Enforcers. Most, those who had common sense, were scared stiff of the Enforcers. They were fanatics who were loyal only to the King and they were judge, jury and executioner for any who broke the Code. The slightest infraction often brought permanent death. They were both a serious obstacle and vital to Stefan’s plans.

“How soon with the rest of the Council arrive?” Stefan asked, trying to keep track of everything that needed to be done in the next few nights.

“They will be here in three nights,” Lucian said.

“Go and tell Nick that I need to see him as soon as possible, before daylight if he can manage it. I know there are mortals who would raise hell if he just disappeared for a week. The last thing I want is a media frenzy over him going missing.” Stefan said. “If he can bring Doctor Lambert or Detective Vetter so much the better.”  Lucien rose to his feet, bowed to his king and left.

Stefan pulled the bloodstone out of his pocket and stared into its depths. Letting his mind wander he turned over this new information. Detective Vetter, since she was obeying the Code rather than becoming a Hunter, could possibly become a daylight guard for Michelle - that is if Nick thought she could be trusted with the position. Doctor Lambert was an obvious choice as a personal physician, if the job wasn’t too much work on top of everything else she did. He had to get her some staff, and he also had to let her know that for curing the Fever, he was obligated to give her a boon. It was something that had fallen out of favor with the mortal royalty, but he had been raised to a better standard.

The Fever had been a merciless killer. No one had known how it had spread to the vampire community here in Toronto but they did know where it had come from. A medical research lab had created the virus in hopes that it would cure AIDS. It had failed to destroy the AIDS virus; instead it had attacked the genetic virus that was the cause of vampirism – a virus that Natalie had discovered. The result was a virus that killed vampires and did nothing to the mortals who contracted it. It had spread like a wild fire and only Natalie had been able to stop it. She had done more than save the lives of numerous vampires here in Toronto. She had saved their race for there was no ‘getting over’ the Fever. If you contracted the virus, you died.

Unfortunately it seemed that only Stefan was listening to the wakeup call that the Fever had been. From what he could tell no one was paying any real attention to the mortal world’s tech and scientific advances. Engineering a virus that would be able to wipe them out and be completely harmless to mortal humans was the worst of it; but there were other things nearly as bad. According to Aristotle, creating new identities for vampires when it came time to move on was getting much, much more difficult with every passing year.

Nick had shown him how police all over the world were tracking criminals. Someone could kill in one country and move to another only to find the police in the new country were waiting. Science held the key to those advances as well. Stefan knew his people were hunters, killers, but for the most part they lived in peace with mortals now. There were very few who killed more than once a year at most. Since the medical advance of blood donations the hunting of humans for their blood had been dwindling naturally. Fewer and fewer mortals were dying at the hands of vampires every year.

Stefan looked up as Michelle led a small group of women into their suite. “How did your meeting go?” she asked. Janette smirked over her shoulder, but was blank faced by the time Isabel walked into her line of sight. She knew perfectly well that dealing with LaCroix, her master, never went well.

“As well as could be expected I suppose,” Stefan sighed. “The elders never like knowing that a kid is now in charge. On the other hand, LaCroix gave me a lead on getting you a doctor for as long as we’re here, and he is going to contact Nick for me. Nick should be able to find us a secure place to live.”

“A secure place? Is that something you’re worried about?” Becky asked, as the ladies sat down. Michelle sat on Stefan’s lap and cuddled.

“My family isn’t well known outside of certain circles, but I’m going to be making some pretty severe changes to my father’s polices, and well, that’s never goes over well. Nick is a police detective, as well as a good friend of mine. He’s bound to know not only the areas where we’re least likely to be bothered, but also the companies that provide the best security systems in the city,” Stefan explained.

“Yes, I’m glad that you’re aware of that,” Janette said. “We do have our hot heads, and Nick’s security systems are the best. As for the wedding, I’ve managed to find a location and you can give that to Nick as well. I’m certain that he will know what sort of security will be needed there. We are on track, and in five months the two of you will be married.” Janette looked deeply satisfied.

“You’re looking forward to bossing around a new generation aren’t you?” Stefan said with a sigh, but the laughing look he gave her let everyone know he wasn’t upset at the notion.

“Of course I am,” Janette admitted. “No one else knows how to keep the men in your family in line, and Michelle will need tutoring. I foresee a great deal of work for me to do.”


	5. Faking Mortality

Lucien LaCroix, also known among the vampire community as ‘The General’ knew that his favorite, and most insubordinate, son would be at his job as a homicide detective at this time of night. That meant that he would have to go down to the police precinct that Nicholas worked at to find him and talk to him. There was no way that Lucien could allow his king to not have a constant guard. He was the only Royal vampire left and that meant that he would have a guard whether he liked it or not.

Nicholas had been Nicola deBrabrant in his mortal life. He had met LaCroix on his return to Paris in 1228 from his second tour in the Crusades. Suffering from an excess of both cynicism and a nearly crushing blow to his faith, he had been a perfect target for Lucien and his favorite daughter, Janette. She had seduced him and Lucien had brought him across, adding him to their family. It was a mistake that he had learned to regret in the following centuries. Now he searched for a cure and did his best to make up for the lives he had taken before his conscious had caught up with him as a homicide detective under the name of Nicholas B. Knight.

LaCroix marched into the station only to be brought up short at his first sight of Nicholas. His son was paler than usual and he looked shaky and weak. ‘What had he done to himself now? One of these nights his foolish search for a nonexistent cure was going to kill him.’ Lucien thought to himself. “Nicholas!” he thundered as he marched into the squad room. ‘He was needed to guard the king, he couldn’t be weak now!’

Nick looked up to see his master bearing down on him. This could be good if he could get the ancient vampire to go along with him. “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” he said in medieval French. “My new captain doesn’t believe that the sun could make someone chronically ill. So he’s been calling me in early every day this week. I’m a little tired of dodging the sun so I’m arranging for a little time off courtesy of my allergies. Do you think you could throw a little fatherly fit about my health?” To the onlookers it sounded like Nick was completely exasperated, although they couldn’t follow exactly what he was saying.

Lucien, however, had known his son for nearly 800 years. He could hear the amusement in the crusader’s voice and see the twinkle in his eyes. Whoever this new mortal in his son’s life was he had really annoyed Nicholas. Nicholas rarely played these sorts of manipulation games with mortals. However, when he did he was very good at it. Lucien had taught him well.

It didn’t take more than a second for Lucien to make up his mind. This would ensure that Nicholas had all the time he needed to guard the king, so Lucien decided to help. He braced his fists on Nicholas’ desk and leaned in. “Of course I can throw a fatherly fit, and with the mood I’m in I’m more than grateful to have a chance to yell.”

The cops who were witnessing the confrontation couldn’t believe their eyes. This man (who a few knew as the Nightcrawler, a very creepy radio show personality) was getting right into Detective Knight’s personal space and yelling at him. Most wondered where he had found the balls because he obviously knew Knight and he wasn’t nicknamed ‘The Knightmare’ for kicks. Knight had a terrible temper and although he had a firm grip on it, he had been known to lose it.

Detective Donald Schanke, Nick’s partner, was the only one that knew the Nightcrawler had more than just a passing history with his partner, although Nick wouldn’t talk about it. Schanke was sure that this man and a woman named Janette who used to own the Raven club were the closest thing Nick had to family. Personally he thought it was more than a little sad, because he knew that neither of the two supported Nick in his calling as a police officer, a job that Nick excelled at.

“Your charge’s brother murdered their father. Your charge dealt with the situation. He’s here and you will need to take up your duties again. Nothing can be allowed to happen to him.” Lucien was certain that Nicholas would understand why he was talking around the situation. Even though they were speaking in medieval French, if too many key words were spoken, someone might figure out what their conversation was about.

Nick leaned right back into LaCriox’s personal space. “I’m not surprised. That &*^%&&$$!!! wasn’t fit to sit at his father’s feet, much less take his place. My charge will do well. He took his father’s teachings to heart. Our people come first with him always.”

The two growling vampires (not that anyone in the bullpen knew that they were vampires) were the center of attention and they were the only thing that could be heard. “Be that as it may, he wants to see you before sunrise if possible. If you can bring the doctor and the slacker’s lady friend so much the better. If not, then you need to arrange for them to see him quietly. I don’t like it but those are his orders. You will see to it that he has adequate protection while he is here.”

He then turned to his son’s mortal partners and switched back to English, “When this fool collapses, take him to see that doctor of his. Perhaps she can beat some sense into his head.” He turned around and stormed out of the bullpen, slamming the door and breaking the window in the process. He almost ran over Dr. Natalie Lambert, the city coroner, as he snarled in her direction on his way out.

“YOU’RE GOING TO HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT!” Nick yelled and then turned back to see Schanke and the rookie they were training, Detective Tracy Vetter, watching him closely. “I’M FINE!”

“Sure you are, Knight,” Schanke said. “You looked better when you picked me up after my car broke down the night Cohen’s plane crashed.” That night still gave Don Schanke the shivers. He and Captain Cohen had been scheduled to escort a bombing suspect to another city and they both should have been on that plane. However, due to a flat tire, a dead cell phone battery and no one letting him use their phone, (which had resulted in a two hour hike until he could find a working public phone), he had missed the flight. He hadn’t even known that Captain Cohen was dead until Nick had shown up and grabbed him in a bear hug. The bomb and crash had left no survivors.

Nick switched his glare to Tracy who just shrugged. She wasn’t green enough to get into this one. She’d learned a lot from the two older detectives and one of those things was when to duck when it came to Nick’s temper. Pulling the strings and making sure that she was assigned to this team of detectives was the one thing that she did thank her father, the Police Commissioner for. Oh, she knew that the only reason he had done it was so that she had better back up than anyone else, but they had taught her so much and they were more than willing to ignore the fact that her father was the Police Commissioner, something that few others did.

“I’m fine!” Nick insisted. He knew he wasn’t. He hadn’t fed in days and the effects of the slight sunlight exposure and the lack of blood was more than evident. It was only because he had more than ample experience with starvation that he could handle what he was experiencing now. The garlic burn to the back of his neck was not helping either. He had smeared holy water over his wrists and a few other places where sunlight could have gotten to him to simulate sunburns but it was the garlic oil that was giving him the most trouble. It hadn’t been a part of his plans. Another detective had patted him on the neck in gesture of support against Sneed. Too bad Jimmy had been eating pizza before he’d done that.

Captain Harlan Sneed, temporary captain for the 96th Homicide department, marched out of his office and up to Nick. “Who was that Knight and what was he doing here? This is a police station, not a bar room for the two of you to brawl in.” Sneed had come into the captaincy of the homicide division when Captain Reece had been shot in a gas station hold up. Reece had just been an innocent bystander, but that hadn’t helped the feelings of frustration of the men and women of his division. A cop being shot should be the result of something in the line of duty, not going to get gas on your way in to work. They couldn’t wait until Reece recovered enough to come back.

Sneed was not a popular captain. He was the proof that the stereotype of a red neck actually did exist. He was a large beefy man with no tolerance for weakness and even less for fame chasing. Anywhere else he would have made a good captain but he was taking his opinions out on Knight. He had loudly proclaimed that he wouldn’t put up with drama queens and there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that it was Nick that he was going on about.

Due to the fact that they were the best detectives in the department, Nick and Don Schanke got the worst cases which made for good stories as far as the media were concerned. Nick was the cop most of the reporters went after when looking for information on those cases, mostly because he was handsome and his partner Schanke wasn’t. Sneed was convinced that Nick’s sun allergy was a fabrication that he had made up to get him out of coming into work whenever he was needed.

“That was my father, Captain,” Nick said in clipped tones. “He’s convinced that working for the police will cause me to have a relapse of my condition. He’s wrong. I’m fine. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.” Nick stood up, and promptly collapsed.

“Knight!” several voices called and everyone rushed to his side. Sneed went to his knees and grabbed Nick by the throat to shake him, only to find that he couldn’t feel a pulse. “Doctor! I can’t get a pulse!” he said to Natalie.

Natalie had dropped the files she had been delivering to the department the moment she’d seen Nick collapse, shoved her way through the crowd to Nick’s side, yanked Sneed’s hand away from Nick’s throat and shoved him out of her way. “Move!” she barked. She quickly took a set of nearly nonexistent vitals. She also checked his wrists and around his neck. “His pulse is slow and irregular. Schanke, how much sun has he gotten lately?”

“He’s been in early nearly every day this week,” Don said, worried.

“The captain has also been sending him out places where he might have gotten more,” Tracy said with a vicious look at Sneed.

“Did anyone touch the back of his neck?” Natalie asked, finding an unexpected burn there. It looked like garlic exposure to her.

“I did when he came in today, Doc,” one of the other detectives said.

“Wash your hands after you eat, Jimmy. It looks like you had something he’s allergic to on your hands,” Natalie turned to Sneed. "The burns are bad enough, but he’s going into anaphylaxis as well. I’m taking him to the ER. Someone help me put him in his car.”

Everyone offered to help and soon Natalie was buckling Nick into the backseat of the old Cadillac convertible that Nick drove. He whispered in her ear, “Tracy drives.”

Natalie didn’t know why the change of plans (she had been in on the faked collapse from the beginning), but no doubt it had something to do with LaCroix’s visit. “Tracy, take the keys. Don, stay here and take care of things.” She glared at Sneed, but Schanke didn’t need the hint. Everyone knew about Nick’s problems with sunlight and his other allergies. That was why the man was permanently assigned to the night shift. This was one time ole Don Schanke was going to take advantage of his connections to the Police Commission. Sneed was not going to get away with sending his partner to the hospital.


	6. Tracy finds out

Hustling the three of them through the ER, Natalie got them into a room immediately. At that point Nick whammied the doctor and nurses into treating him, without actually treating him. Nick had pre-prepped those who were going to be on shift tonight, and after having the doctor send him home to ‘recover’ for a week, the small group headed back out to the caddy. The hospital would take care of the paperwork, aside from the bunch that Nick was carrying along with some useless medications.

It was only once they were back on the road, with Nick driving, that Tracy let go of the outrage that she was feeling. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me? You knew, that I knew about Vachon!” Tracy fumed. She had learned about vampires through Vachon, when he had been the only survivor of the same airplane crash that had killed Captain Cohen. She had found him searching the wreckage for his hand and for some unknown reason he had decided he couldn’t kill her when he had found out that she was resistant to his hypnosis in spite of the fact that it was against the Code, the laws that all vampires had to live by. Mortals who found out about vampires either had to have their memories changed or they had to die. Because Vachon had done neither, both of them were being watched by the Community. He had told her that and what the consequences of talking to anyone would be.

“Because I was the one assigned to kill you both if you didn’t obey the Code,” Nick said flatly. “I’m already walking a fine line because Natalie knows about me. If you broke the Code and I didn’t kill you, then both of our lives would be forfeit as well. I didn’t want the assignment, but I wasn’t given a choice.”

Tracy deflated. “Sorry you guys got mixed up in our mess,” she said with a wince. “I’m guessing that the two of you went through with the charade tonight because of what Sneed’s been doing?”

“Yeah, I’ve come a too close to getting fried by the sun too many times for my comfort this last week,” Nick admitted. “This way Sneed is going to be called on endangering my life, because even the uniforms know about my sunlight ‘allergy’.”

Natalie snorted. “Just because Nick’s a vampire does not mean that anyone should be able to get away with trying to hurt him. If he’d been mortal he really would have been extremely sick. We had to do some fancy footwork to make sure we didn’t break the Code, but Sneed’s going to get what he deserves.”

“Good, let me know what I need to do to help,” Tracy said firmly. She hadn’t liked Sneed’s attitude any more than the rest of the department. “Now, how did you find out?”

Natalie smiled and said, “This idiot decided to help out when some other idiot tried to rob a store with a pipe bomb. Needless to say he ended up on my table. It was the first time I’d had someone sit up on me, but it hasn’t been the last. I’ve ended up treating the dead and the undead of Toronto. Lucky for me most of my undead patients only need things removed once in a while. I doubt that I get more than one emergency a month for removal of unwanted objects which is the most common ailment.”

“So that’s why you answer the phone ‘Natalie’s bed and breakfast’,” Tracy said with a laugh.

“Well, I can’t say, ‘Vampire ER’ now, can I?” she answered. “Nick, why tell Tracy now? And what does LaCroix have to do with this?” Nat was sure that Nick’s master had something to do with the timing. She didn’t trust that vampire as far as her cat Sydney could throw him.

“Tracy, what do you know about how our government is set up?” Nick asked, rather than answer Natalie’s question.

“I don’t, the only thing I know is that ‘The General’, whoever he is, runs Toronto and the Enforcers will kill both me and Vachon if I talk,” Tracy said plainly. She really didn’t blame Nick for not telling her. The consequence for a mortal was a simple and quick death – not so for a vampire. Vachon had been explicit in his descriptions of what would happen to both of them if she talked.

“Alright, well we’re basically set up as a monarchy. We have a king, a governing council and the oldest vampire in each community all over the world runs that community. The General is the Elder for Toronto. The Enforcers are our police/military. The throne just changed hands. The new king is young for a vampire, he’s only 485, but he’s the last of the royal family, so he’s automatically assumed the throne.”

“Won’t someone try to take it away from him?” Natalie asked. She knew her history and having a young ruler on the throne was practically asking for a power struggle.

“No one will because royal vampires, unlike the rest of us, are born as vampires. They are where we came from. The only thing most vampires are going to be doing is trying to figure out a way to either; become Stefan’s best friend and try to rule through him or set him up with a mortal woman so they can take control of the next heir to the throne. You see, a royal vampire can only have a child with a mortal. That child will always be a vampire.

“That’s what LaCroix tried to do. He gave me to King Vladislav to be his youngest son’s cradle guard and my sister Janette to be his lady’s companion and guard. LaCroix thought that he could be the power behind the throne that way. He knew that the elder son wouldn’t last as king. Radu was mad and it showed. LaCroix even succeeded after a fashion. Janette can make Stefan toe the line better than anyone.” Nick shrugged. “Anyway, he stopped by to tell me that Stefan was now our king and that he wanted to see all three of us. He stays at the Sutton Palace Hotel when he’s in town.”

“Well, I doubt it’s a good idea to keep a king waiting,” Tracy said. “Hey Nat, he still looks awful. Do you have any blood on hand?”

 

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At three am Michelle was starting to flag. She still wasn’t fully switched over to a night time life, but she was doing her best. Stefan only had from sundown to sunup, and she wanted to share that as much as reasonably possible. Besides, Nick was supposed to show up tonight, and she wanted to be there when he did. Right now Stefan was meeting with yet another group of vampires that he called Enforcers, his people’s equivalent of cops.

Michelle was admittedly taking the coward’s way out where the Enforcers were concerned, at least a little bit. They were, one and all, an extremely intimidating bunch, and that was without the little problem of the language barrier as they very seldom spoke English around her. Fortunately Stefan had been meeting with various groups of Enforcers for the last month, so Michelle had a really good idea of just what was going on – even if she was quietly sitting in the corner knitting a pair of socks. While they did notice that she was there, (the last thing that they could be called was idiotic enough not to notice the only mortal in the room), the knitting made them dismiss her out of hand, and while they ignored her, she could watch them.

Old stereotypes came in handy sometimes for things like this, plus it was darned cold at Vladislas during the summer, much less during winter, and she’d need some very warm socks eventually at the least, and much more likely an entirely new winter wardrobe. It was a good thing her mom had taught her how to knit among other crafts because the commercial stuff just really wasn’t going to cut it when compared to hand knitted clothes, especially if she used the really good wools. Even Stefan had dressed more like it was fall than the height of summer while they were there, and he was practically immune to cold.

Stefan dismissed the latest group and sighed as the last one closed the door to their suite. “You’re going to have trouble with the blond,” Michelle said quietly. “He’s got the look of someone who likes his job a little too much.”

Stefan snorted. “You have Demetri pegged. He really does not like innovations, and he prefers by far to kill rather than correct a problem.”

“He’s on the list?” The list was something that neither of them liked, but they were both well aware of the fact that it was absolutely necessary.

“Yes, he’s on the list, which puts his partner in a bad position, but Aristotle found a replacement for him, and Nick will take care the rest,” Stefan told her.

“Why don’t you tell me about this doctor that you said you’d found a lead on?” Michelle asked, getting up and stretching, before moving to cuddle with Stefan on the couch. “I’m not going to be able to cover up your bite marks, is this guy going to be able to handle things?” Stefan glanced at her covered shoulder and she could see his eyes flash. She smirked a bit to know that even the thought of his bite mark on her was enough to get him going. “Dr. Natalie Lambert is the medical examiner on the night shift and when a vampire needs a doctor around here, they go to her.”

“Are you serious? The doctor to a group of vampires is a coroner? What would a bunch of vampires need with a doctor anyway?” Michelle asked.

Stefan stilled. “A medical research company accidentally created a virus that killed vampires but did not harm mortals. The epidemic nearly destroyed my people. Dr. Lambert is researching vampirism in search of a cure and she was able to stop the epidemic. Medically speaking she knows more about vampires than anyone on the planet. We owe her everything.”

“Oh my god, that’s awful! How many died?” Michelle was horrified. Vampires were effectively immortal and for any illness to be able to kill them must have caused a panic.

“Far too many,” Stefan sighed. “Until Dr. Lambert came up with the vaccine if you contracted the Fever you died. I think all together over fifty of my people died, vampire and carouche alike. We haven’t lost that great a number of vampires since my father took the throne.”

“Since the last Purge,” Michelle said gently.

“Yes, and now I must decimate our ranks even further,” Stefan said grimly.

“If it isn’t done, and done properly, we will probably lose the entire kingdom within the next century,” Michelle pointed out. “It isn’t like you’re going on a rampage against those you dislike like Radu would have done. You are eliminating a threat to our kingdom based on their actions. You have warned them for decades that their actions were becoming too dangerous, especially with what Nick has told you about how police work has and is changing. They chose to ignore you. Plus, anyone who preys on children deserves as horrible a death as we can give them – like being fed into a wood chipper alive.”

That brought a startled laugh out of Stefan. “I had no idea you could be so vicious, my love.” He hadn’t failed to notice that she’d referred to his kingdom as ‘ours’. It never failed to warm his heart even more to know how accepting she was of his people and her place with them, even if she did hide in the corner with her knitting when the Enforcers were around.

“People like that, mortal or vampire, deserve the worst punishment possible. Don’t feel bad about getting rid of them, Stefan. The last thing we need is to have creeps like that around. What’s a carouche?” Michelle asked.

“A vampire whose first meal was an animal or an animal that has become a vampire. They don’t do very well and usually don’t last very long, but in spite of that, they are still my people too,” Stefan said.

“I had no idea that could happen,” Michelle said, startled. “Well, changing the subject, if Doctor Lambert is a medical examiner, then she really doesn’t have access to very many resources. We’ll have to make sure she has a real lab to work with. She’ll need a staff and a personal assistant to help keep up with everything we’re asking her to do.”

“I’ve thought of that, and I’ll need to grant her a boon as well. Making her your physician will grant her protection during the Purge, and her research will help protect us against things like the Fever in the future, but she saved all vampires when she cured the Fever. She deserves more than a boon, but it is the traditional reward for great services,” Stefan said, grateful for the happier topic.

“Uhum,” Michelle murmured in agreement as she finally nodded off. Stefan smiled gently down at her, so grateful to have found her at this time in his life. He gently picked her up and took her into the bedroom. His sweet, mortal angel needed her rest, and he would make sure that no one disturbed her until sunrise.

‘Now what should I do about Tracy Vetter?’ he thought as he closed the door.


	7. An Offer from the King

Nick didn’t bother to ask anyone at the hotel where Stefan was staying. He just led Natalie and Tracy straight to a penthouse suite and walked right in. They followed him in only to find him kneeling on one knee in front of a young man. Tracy, being a cop, automatically categorized him; white male, early twenties, black curly hair cut short, black eyes, and very pale skin, wearing a black t-shirt under black sweater, jeans and hiking boots. This had to be King Stefan who Nick had said he had been the cradle guard for, whatever a cradle guard was.

“I thought that much formality was ridiculous when I was six and time hasn’t changed my mind Nick,” Stefan laughed as he drew Nick up off the floor and into his arms. “It’s good to see you! How long can you stay? I don’t want to get you into trouble with your captain.” Stefan wasn’t aware of Reece’s hospitalization and he liked the man. He had allowed Stefan to ride along with Nick and Schanke for a few nights the last time he was in Toronto running errands for his father. “Doctor Lambert, it is good to see you as well.”

“It’s good to see you too, Stefan, and I’m sorry to hear of your loss,” Natalie said.

“Thank you,” Stefan said, and turned back to Nick.

“Reece is in the hospital recovering from a gunshot wound. My current and thankfully temporary captain thinks I’m still at the hospital having collapsed at work because of his actions. The doctors there gave me a week off. The ladies, however only have about an hour before they need to get back or check in.” Nick pulled Tracy forward as he introduced her. “Detective Tracy Vetter, this is His Majesty, King Stefan. Your Majesty, Detective Vetter is the rookie that Detective Schanke and I are training. She knows about us through Javier Vachon.”

“Can she be trusted?” Stefan asked Nick bluntly. It wasn’t normally like him to be so undiplomatic, but time was short, and unlike any other vampire, he trusted Nick implicitly.

“Yes, she can. She’s had several occasions to betray us, or simply ignore what was happening, instead she actively helped,” Nick said calmly. Then he switched to his native medieval French. “She’ll probably cross over within the next five years considering she and Vachon are hopelessly in love, but they haven’t admitted that to themselves yet, much less anyone else.”

Stefan nodded in acknowledgement before bowing to both ladies and gestured for them all to sit down. “Thank you for coming then. I’ll make this short and quick then so that you can get back,” Stefan said. He first turned to Tracy. “You already know that your position is questionable under the Code. Within a week it will be intolerable. I have no wish to see you dead simply because of circumstances that you had no part in. In order to avoid that, I give you two choices; to come across or to become a daylight guard and companion to the queen. You have three days to make your decision.”

Stefan ignored her the way her heartbeat shot through the roof and turned to Natalie. “Natalie, your position is already assured. Your work in trying to find a cure for vampirism allowed you to save my people from the Fever. It would have destroyed us all without your expertise and quick thinking. No vampire will be allowed to harm you in any fashion without forfeiting their lives.

“I want you to make a wish list of everything you would need to continue your research in a private lab, including staff, as well as what you would need to be a personal physician to my queen. I’ll be assigning you a personal assistant as well, because I know I’m asking a great deal of you, both in time and hard work that will take you even further away from your own personal life and profession. I’m also granting you a boon for your curing of the Fever. Anything that you wish, as long as it is within my power, is granted to you.

“The reason that I am making these demands, and I know that under normal circumstances they are very unreasonable, is because ten nights from now there will be several severe changes made to the Code. There are always changes made whenever a king takes the throne, but this time there is more to it than that, and I plan on you, Natalie, to be a prominent part of that change. You see, we are going to be discovered, and physical proof of the existence of vampires is going to get out. Eventually, I estimate within the next few years, it is going to become public knowledge and I want to be able to show people that they have nothing to fear from us, that my people are law abiding, even if those laws are our own,” Stefan said.

“And you want to take advantage of people’s advocacy of those with genetic disabilities,” Natalie said, knowingly.

Stefan and Nick smirked, while Tracy looked confused. “People in these modern times are almost frothing at the mouth with their concerns over tolerance and equality. If we’re to be discovered now, I’d be a poor king if I did not take every advantage I could to protect my people from Hunters,” Stefan pointed out.

“Ok, how are you going to deal with the fact that there are vampires who kill indiscriminately?” Tracy wanted to know. “I mean, right now, we’re trying to take care of them quietly, but if word actually does get out…..”

Stefan sighed. “The Council of Elders will be meeting on Saturday night and after the meeting the Enforcers will be set loose on a Purge. I don’t like the Purges but they are a necessary. After the Purge vampires that will not be able to control themselves and obey the laws of the lands that they live in will be dead. If Nick hadn’t told me that you were trustworthy, you would have joined them, having broken the Code or not. Not even being on the Council of Elders or being an Enforcer will protect someone from the Purge. Nick vouching for you means that either you choose to become one of my people or a mortal I will be making use of when the time comes.” Stefan looked apologetic, but firm, and Tracy understood that he meant that when the news broke she was to keep her mouth shut about the vampires he was making sure would die during this Purge.

“We’d better go,” Natalie said. She turned to Tracy, “Remember, Nick’s at the loft recovering from both anaphylactic shock and first to third degree burns. The first and second degree burns are to his wrists and arms and the third degree burns are to his neck and face.” She turned to Nick, “You remember that too. I predict that it will take a full week for you to recover enough strength to go back to work and the burns will take even longer to heal so be prepared to wear bandages.

“I will get you that list as soon as I can, your majesty,” Natalie said, as she stood, pulling Tracy up with her.

“Thank you,” Stefan told her simply.

“I’ll remember Nat, and Tracy, you dropped me off at the loft and I’ve threatened to skin you if you let anyone else drive the caddy.” The two detectives smirked at each other. They both knew that he meant Schanke who was the only one brave enough to ask.

“No problem partner,” Tracy said and she led the way as she and Natalie left.

The moment the door closed Nick rounded on Stefan, “QUEEN? Since when do we have a Queen, Stefan?”

Stefan squirmed a bit. Janette wasn’t the only one who had the ability to make him feel like a fledgling again. “Radu murdered father and I killed him that’s how I ended up in this mess. I never wanted to be king. After Radu killed father he went on a bit of a rampage in Prejmar. He outright killed one of the villagers and brought across two lady scholars and he wasn’t the least bit interested in being subtle about it. He completely shattered the Code. The ladies were doing the original research necessary for their dissertations at Prejmar Fortress. There was also a third lady scholar studying at the monastery with them for the same reason. The third lady’s name is Michelle and she and Karl helped me to kill Radu. She’s also become my lady. We will be married in five months.”

Nick settled down. The fact that this girl had helped to kill a mad vampire and yet still was willing to marry Stefan said a lot about her, all of it good. “Does the Council know about her yet?”

“The only member of the Council that I’ve talked to has been Lucien and I had to tell him because he was ready to kidnap a mortal as a sex slave for me. Really, the man needs to stop treating everyone around him like it was two thousand years ago. I’ll wake her up before sunrise to introduce you,” Stefan told him.

“I look forward to meeting her,” Nick said, satisfied more by the look on Stefan’s face when he talked about his mortal, than knowing that the Council would find out quickly. He also knew exactly what Stefan was talking about when he mentioned LaCroix. It was the same reason that he had made the deal to save his sister from becoming LaCroix’s next childer after all.

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Don Schanke had not only called the Commissioner, he’d also called Internal Affairs and he’d done it from his desk right in front of the entire bullpen. He was not a man to sneak around and rat out a fellow officer but he wasn’t going to let Sneed get away with putting his partner in the hospital either. His phone calls got quick results and soon both an IA Investigator and the Commissioner were sitting at Knight’s desk questioning him.

“Where’s Tracy?” the Commissioner asked from where he sat in Nick’s chair.

“She drove Nick and Dr. Lambert to the ER, sir. She’s not back yet. I think she’ll probably stay until she knows Nick will be ok. She’s a good partner to have.” Schanke wasn’t smoozing the man. Tracy was a good cop and he knew there was no way she’d leave her partner while it wasn’t certain he would live.

“We need to get your statement Detective,” the IA Investigator Jake Wheatly said.

“No problem; everyone who saw Knight go down is still here,” Schanke waved his hand around at the bullpen. “We’re just catching up on our paperwork until you have a chance to talk to us.”

Stunned Wheatly looked around, only to see heads nodding at him in all directions from detectives and uniforms alike. ‘Sneed must really have pissed these guys off,’ he thought. ‘Normally a division shielded their captain, they didn’t hand him over on a platter. Unless what Schanke said was true and Sneed really did deliberately put Knight in the hospital.’ He grew even more concerned as he escorted Schanke to an interrogation room. If Sneed really had put Knight in the hospital on purpose, then that was aggravated assault if not attempted murder depending on how severe Knight’s allergies were. As Schanke gave his statement he prayed that Knight’s collapse wasn’t due to Sneed’s actions. “Now, you said that the doctor said he was badly burned?”

Don nodded and pulled several pictures out of a file. “Yes I did. Dr. Lambert is not only the night shift forensic pathologist; she’s also Knight’s personal physician. Nick says that it’s because she knows how to look outside the box. His condition is really rare and more importantly he trusts her both professionally and personally. She was here bringing a report on a case for one of our cases and she saw him collapse. She started working on him right away and had Detective Vetter drive them both to the ER.” He gave Wheatly the pictures. “These pictures were taken after case where Nick suffered from direct sunlight exposure. During that case we found that the perp was hunting people, the more dangerous the better, and she took me hostage so that Nick would come after her. She thought she knew his weaknesses, and Nick deliberately went out into direct sunlight to come at her from behind. These pictures were taken several hours later at the morgue to document the damage. Nick spent the rest of that night in the morgue with Doctor Lambert watching over him and it took several weeks for his burns to heal up.”

Wheatly blanched at how bad the burns in the pictures were. “Did you see the burns that Detective Knight had tonight?”

“Yeah I did. I saw the burns on his wrists where his sleeves had ridden up, and his gloves hadn’t protected him. They looked awful, and I noticed redness developing around his face and neck too.” Don was kicking himself about those burns. He had known they were bad but Knight had bitten his head off when he tried to point that out. Of course, he wasn’t talking literally and if what he suspected about his partner was right then he was lucky that was true. ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell Donnie,’ he reminded himself. If and when Nick was ever ready to tell him he’d be ready for it and he wouldn’t say or do anything to betray his knowledge of his partner’s true condition before then.

“Could the allergen Detective Jim Peck accidentally placed on his neck have caused Detective Knight’s collapse?” ‘Please, please let that be it! That was accidental and everyone agreed on that one!’ Wheatly silently begged. No sign of his thoughts crossed his face.

“Contributed yes, caused no, I know my partner’s allergies front to back,” Schanke was definite on that one. “A single slight exposure to something he’s allergic to won’t cause a collapse. This collapse was caused by prolonged and repeated exposure.” Exposure that Sneed was responsible for he wanted to say but didn’t. That would be IA’s call and he wouldn’t jeopardize the case by ranting.

Just then one of the uniforms stuck his head in the door to the interrogation room. “Detective Vetter’s back and she’s got an update on Knight.”

Both Schanke and Wheatly hurried out of the room and over to the bullpen. “How is he?” Schanke asked the minute he got close.

Tracy was careful and told him exactly what Natalie had told her to say. “He’s back at the loft and he’s going to be ok. He was going into anaphylactic shock and they got that stabilized fairly quickly but he’s not going to be coming back for at least a week. He’s got first and second degree burns to his wrists and arms and third degree burns on his face and neck.”

“Why didn’t they keep him at the hospital?” someone wanted to know.

“DUH!” Schanke said. “The hospital’s got windows and none of those metal shutters Nick has on the windows at the loft. The last thing he needs right now is more sunlight!”

“I’m glad that Detective Knight is going to be alright. Detective Vetter, I’m Internal Affairs Investigator Wheatly. I need your statement.”

Tracy nodded and followed him to the interrogation room. ‘This was going to be a long night,’ she thought.


	8. Conversations

Tracy had been right; it had been a long night. She had an errand to run before she dropped the caddy off at the loft, or at least that’s what she told Schanke so that she could leave once IA and her dad had gotten through with her. The truth was she needed to make a decision about King Stefan’s orders and she couldn’t do that without consulting her own personal vampire. Ok, so it was more like she was his mortal than he was her vampire, but she still needed to see Vachon about this. Right after she had met him she would have been questioning the king’s authority to give her orders, but by now she was well aware of the fact that she had already become one of the king’s subjects by obeying the Code.

It was just after dawn when she reached the abandoned church where Vachon made his home. “Vachon! You’d better be here because I don’t think you’re going to believe what happened tonight!”

Vachon leaned out from around doorway right behind her. “What is it this time Tracy? Did you find another kill or did your father set you up on a date?” Either one was a possibility he knew. 

“EEEP!” Tracy jumped, turned and swatted Vachon on the shoulder, “Would you quit that? I hate it when you sneak up on me! And my mother would be the one to try and set me up on a date, for your information and if some vampire had killed someone and I had the case I would hardly call that unbelievable.”

“First of all, yes I do have to do that. I’m a vampire, we sneak up on people. It’s kind of hard to eat someone when they know you’re coming,” Vachon pointed out.

“You feed from a bottle most of the time Vachon. In fact the only time you don’t is when someone’s threatening me.” Tracy pointed out.

“No point in letting my skills get rusty. So, what’s up this time?” he smirked.

Tracy just shook her head. She never could resist his version of puppy eyes even when she knew he was fully capable of killing someone without a second thought. Why had she fallen in love with an immortal serial killer anyway? Oh yeah, because most of the time when he killed someone these days he was saving her from her own screw ups.

“Well, tonight Nick collapsed at work and I was on my way taking him to the ER, only to find out that he’s a VAMPIRE,” she growled the last word at Vachon who realized just how far up the creek he was. “And that he and Natalie had staged the entire thing.” Tracy didn’t give him a chance to answer before she was off to the next thing. “The king wanted to see me and Nat so Nick took us to see him, and he’s ordered me to choose between becoming a bodyguard to the Queen and crossing over so I’ll be protected during the Purge. The king says he needs my answer before Saturday. Did you know that Nick was the King’s cradle guard? And what is a cradle guard anyway?”

Vachon grabbed her and kissed her. He’d been fighting the impulse for a while now, wondering if that would be a good way to stop her when she babbled, even as he denied to himself that what he really wanted to know was how it would feel. “Knight was cradle guard to the King? Knight was cradle guard to the younger Prince. That must mean that the King and the elder son are dead. MERDE! There’s going to be a Purge. There hasn’t been one of those for nearly three centuries.” He stared off into the darkness of the church. This was not good. The last Purge had been when mortals started to disbelieve in vampires and the Code had been changed to prevention of discovery.

“Hey, you still haven’t told me what a cradle guard is,” Tracy poked him in the chest. “And what about the body guard thing? Why would a vampire queen need a daylight guard anyway?”

Vachon began pacing. “A Royal vampire isn’t brought across, they’re born vampires. While they are babies and small children they are incredibly vulnerable. A cradle guard is a vampire who guards the child from the moment the King becomes aware that his mortal Queen is pregnant. Their mothers are always mortal.”

“So King Stefan has a mortal Queen and he wants me to hang out with her. I think I can handle that,” Tracy said, relived.

“As for King Stefan, I haven’t heard that the younger Prince had a mortal bride, but with him taking the throne, taking a bride can only be a good thing.” Vachon thought about it for a moment. If the new king was going as far as offering Tracy a position in his court, then she had better take him up on it, especially before a Purge. Otherwise it was likely that they both would be executed. They were both seriously walking the line as it was. “I think that you had either better take him up on becoming the queen’s guard or you’d better let me bring you across. I don’t think either of us will survive otherwise.” Vachon didn’t like being so blunt, but sometimes with Tracy he had to be.

“Well, I’m not ready to become a vampire just yet.” It was the first time Tracy had admitted that she had been thinking of crossing over. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been confronted with the idea before but it had not been her idea. This time she was finding that it wasn’t such a scary idea to contemplate, although she was definitely not thinking about why the idea didn’t repulse her.

“Then I guess you’re going to become the queen’s guard,” Vachon said. He pulled her up the stairs to the room where he slept. “And I guess I’d better get used to being part of the court as well.”

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Schanke rode up in the elevator to Nick’s loft, nervous that Nick wasn’t going to be ok in spite of everything that he’d been told. Natalie had come by the station after Tracy had gotten back and had repeated what Tracy had said. Nick was going to be fine and would be out for a week, but he just had to see his partner for himself.

Schanke found Nick exactly where he expected to find him – sacked out on the couch in front of his fireplace in his black silk pj’s. He wasn’t surprised about the sleepwear, as it was probably the only thing his partner could stand touching the burns that looked even worse than they had down at the station. “Tell me that you didn’t pull one of your usual idiotic stunts and made Nat leave you here by yourself, partner. Anaphylaxis is nothing to mess around with.”

Nick sighed. “I’m fine. I’ve got the medications the doctor gave me at the hospital, and I’ve lived with my allergies for a very long time now. I know what to do if I have complications.” He picked up the cell phone from the table next to him. “See, I even have a way to call for help right on hand.” 

He wasn’t going to mention his king and future queen asleep in his bedroom. He really hadn’t been happy leaving Stefan in a hotel room where anyone could walk in at any time during the day. The hotel staff were all very well paid to ensure that such mistakes were not made, unlike Michelle’s family. All it would take would be her sister or mother sticking their heads into the bedroom to find Michelle and then there would be hell to pay. Stefan really did sleep like the dead, and the last thing they needed was for anyone to mistake him for a corpse.

“If you say so partner, but I’d be much happier if you had someone here with you. Well, I thought I’d drop by and see how you were doing and give you the update of what’s going on down at the precinct.” Schanke parked himself down on the couch beside Nick as Nick moved into a more upright position. “Sneed has been suspended, without pay, pending the outcome of the IA investigation. You are hereby ordered to rest and get well. The kid and I have our caseload covered, so you are not to worry about anything do you hear me?” Schanke looked sternly at Nick. “I know you’ll be worried about us being out there on our own but we’ll be fine.”

Nick grimaced. Schanke knew him too well after only a few years as partners. His own master wouldn’t have known that he’d be worried about his mortal partners until Nick had driven him to distraction and they’d had at least one fight about the matter. “I can’t help it, Don. I promised Myra that I’d make sure you came home every night. I intend to keep that promise and I can’t do that from a sick bed.”

“You get out of that bed before Nat lets you up and you’ll have Myra to deal with my friend. And let me tell you, she is not someone you want to cross when she gets upset. She’ll be feeding you chicken soup and fluffing your pillow and hovering. There will be lots of hovering to make sure that you follow doctor’s orders. Trust me, it’s easier to do it right the first time and not get her worried. You remember the time I got shot and ended up on light duty? She drove me up the wall!” As much as Schanke was cracking jokes, he was also serious and Nick knew it. Myra Schanke could have made a serious Jewish mother look like an amateur when she got going. 

“All right I promise. I’ll follow Nat’s orders. Sheesh, sic Myra on me, that’s a serious threat,” Nick mock pouted. He had every intention of following Nat’s orders, mostly because they wouldn’t interfere with his duty to guard Stefan, but they wouldn’t be what Schanke was thinking. Her orders had been to stay away from the steer blood and stick with the blood from the bloodstone while Stefan was in town. 

As Stefan had actually ordered her to continue her research, and was going to provide more for her in the way of resources, she had told him that she was going to take every advantage that she could – including figuring out what affect the bloodstone had on him verses regular blood. Nick was actually kicking himself over not getting her a more secure, private lab to work in – one that he could have stocked with the equipment that would have made her research that much easier. 

After all, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it, and having a lab that only he and she had access to … well maybe that was why he hadn’t done it in the first place. It would have been far too tempting, having a place where the two of them would be completely alone, one where no one knew where they were. It was far better that Stefan would be giving her the lab, and staffing it as well, although Nick couldn’t begin to figure out how that was going to work. Perhaps he could at least furnish and stock the lab? Oh, and he was definitely going to make sure the best security systems were in place…..

“Good, then I’m on my way home and I promise that as long as you’re following orders I won’t sic Myra on you. I’ll even stop by every morning with the kid and we’ll go over our cases so you can keep up, deal?” Schanke asked, oblivious to Nick’s thoughts.

“Deal,” Nick said. “It’s only for a week anyway. I’ll be back before you know it.”


	9. The Boon

A boon; Natalie Lambert, forensic pathologist and night shift coroner, had a boon from the King of the Vampires. Taken at face value that was silly, taken as part of her life it was a measure of how far she had come since she had met a certain sunlight challenged homicide detective. A boon meant that she could ask for anything in the world and she would probably get it. The sheer number of possibilities was enough to make her head spin. 

“What am I going to ask for Sydney?” Natalie asked her grey fluffy cat, as she sat curled up on her bed. She already knew that she would take King Stephan up on his offer to make her the queen’s personal physician. Becoming a part of the Court of the Vampires would grant her protection and offer her more opportunities for her research, not something she was going to turn down, but did she dare ask for what she really wanted?

She reached over to the top drawer of her night stand and took out a small tape from a personal voice recorder. It had come from the pvr she used for work. She always carried it with a blank tape inside in her purse just in case something came up even when she was off duty. That was why she’d had it with her last Valentine’s Day. She had gotten a romantic invitation to dinner and she'd been thrilled. She had thought she would be meeting with Nick but it turned out the invitation had come from LaCroix, Nick’s ancient master.

Meeting LaCroix in the restaurant instead of Nick had scared Natalie badly, but not out of her wits. Not only had she held her own in the ensuing conversation with the ancient vampire, she had also turned on her pvr so that Nick would be able to hear what had happened when he found her body. There was no doubt in her mind that LaCroix was going to kill her and that he would make sure that Nick would be the first one to find her body. She had feared not only for her own life, but the pain LaCroix would cause Nick by killing her. They had only just admitted that they were in love with each other and to have that snatched away just as it got started would cause Nick untold pain. The pvr had recorded the entire conversation between her and LaCroix and more importantly to her, between LaCroix and Nick.

Empirical evidence; because of the tape neither of the two vampires had been able to hypnotize her into forgetting that night in spite of the drugs LaCroix had given her in her drink. She had never let on to either one that she remembered everything about that night. Nick had put on an incredible performance to save her life and she wouldn’t let him down - but she did remember and the memory broke her heart. Nick was trapped into an agreement that had saved his sister’s life; not only from becoming a vampire but from becoming LaCroix’s slave. Natalie knew that LaCroix’s ideas of family hadn’t changed in 2,000 years. In love with her or not, Fleur would have been little better off than LaCroix's body slave. That was what Nick had saved her from, but the cost Nick had been forced to pay was centuries of torment, subtle and not so subtle abuse from LaCroix. 

She wanted so much to save Nick from him but the only way she knew to break the hold a master vampire had over his children was for the master to die or for the ‘child’ to be cured. They had tried for years, and Nick had tried for a century longer than that and they still were only in the first stages of finding a cure. Could she really ask for LaCroix’s life? She was a doctor. Yes, she treated the dead and the undead, but she was still a healer, not a killer. However it wasn’t just redemption that Nick was seeking in his quest for mortality. He was also seeking an escape from LaCroix. The third option, suicide, just wasn’t an option for Nick.

It wasn’t just Nick she had to consider either. What about Janette? The owner of the Raven club had been delirious when Natalie had given her the vaccine for the Fever, delirious enough that Natalie now knew far more about Janette’s past than she had ever wanted to. While her life now was far better than it had been while she was a mortal, she dared not defy her master any more than her ‘brother’. How many times had LaCroix ripped her from a life she was just getting happy in? Natalie didn’t know. What she did know was that even after a thousand years, Janette was still terrified that she’d loose what she had worked so hard to build. No, when it came right down to it they both would be better off without LaCroix - and if she had to become a murderer to set free the man she loved and a woman she was beginning to consider a friend, then so be it. Decision made, she settled down to sleep.

 

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Before Stefan had left Nick’s loft to head back to his hotel and his meetings there, both Tracy and Natalie had shown up; Tracy to accept the position of body guard to the queen, and Natalie to give him the list he had asked for. She also requested a private meeting to explain what she wanted as her boon. Stefan sent Nick down to the car and Tracy on her way to her work so that he could grant Natalie the privacy she asked for. After they had left Natalie had played her tape for him; including Nick’s tearful confession of how much he did love her and how he couldn’t let her die at LaCroix’s hands. 

“I want you to free Nick and Janette from LaCroix. They should not have to put up with this sort of thing. I know LaCroix arranged for Nick to kill women he’s loved before. He made the agreement but he refuses to play by its spirit. He uses it to torment Nick over and over again. Janette is only a little better off. She’s 1,000 years old but she still has to obey his slightest whim. Please break the bond of Master and Child between Lucien LaCroix and Nick Knight and Janette DuCharme. That is what I ask as my boon, freedom for them from their master.”

Stefan had learned enough about the doctor to realize just how difficult this request was for her and why. She wanted freedom for her friend and the man she loved, but she did not want to kill anyone, and if LaCroix died from her request she would see herself as a murderer. However it was something she was willing to do as long as they were granted release from their master. “I will see what I can do,” he promised her, before they both left the loft.

‘Why did this mean so much to her?’ he wondered as he wandered back into his hotel suite. Nick had driven them both back to the hotel, but hadn’t interrupted Stefan’s obvious preoccupation. ‘If it was only because she loved Nick and wanted him free to love her then she would not have included Janette in her request.’ He barely took notice of the note that Michelle had left for him telling him that she knew he would be busy all evening so she was going out with her mother and sister to run errands and would be back after midnight.

‘She kept saying freedom. That seems to be the key. She wants them to be free of LaCroix’s demands and his right to abuse them,’ he thought. Although fledgling/child abuse was frowned on, it wasn’t against the Code and most likely never would be. He had far too radical a change to ram through stubborn vampire heads to do anything about that.

He noted that someone had done some subtle rearranging to the furniture in the main room of his suite. It now resembled a throne room as closely as it was going to get. Nick was standing behind and to one side of the only chair in the room, and kneeling before it was every vampire that Aristotle had chosen for the King’s Guard. 

Stefan had prepared himself for this moment, feeding heavily from the bloodstone. He handed Nick his coat and sat down in the chair. He was wearing his t-shirt instead of one of his usual sweaters so that his arms would be bare. He stretched them out and placed his wrists in the waiting hands of the new Guardsmen. He didn’t so much as twitch as one by one each Guardsman fed from him. As they in turn gave Stefan their blood, Stefan forged new fledgling bonds with each Guardsman, stronger than the ones that they’d each had with their first master. These ties, identical to the ones he had with the Enforcers, were strong enough to reach around the world, and would be necessary if Stefan’s plans were to work. Doing so also gave him the idea of how to grant Natalie’s request without killing LaCroix.

If he chose Nick and Janette as Guardsmen, then LaCroix would live. They were a logical choice as they had been his and his mother’s protectors when he had been a child. He could kill several birds with one stone by doing this. Lucien would be in his debt, the personal guards that he wanted would be official, he would be granting Natalie’s boon and he would be able to teach Nick the things that LaCroix hadn’t; which was something that had chaffed at him for centuries. For now though, it was time to get to work. When the last new Guardsman finished feeding, he turned to the Enforcer standing at the door, “Charles, bring me the Archivist.”

Aristotle was nervous. He had been given the details of what Stefan wanted for the list of those to be purged, but while he wasn’t one of those who had made the list, he still didn’t know what Stefan had in mind for the changes that required the Purge in the first place. Purges were nervous times for all vampires, even those who had what would normally be secure positions like him. He stood up as Charles walked out of the King’s suite and gestured him in. 

He walked into the suite and knelt at King Stefan’s feet. He could see that the young king was as pale as death. With as many new Guardsman as there were in the room if the boy had fed and bonded with them all, (the Guards would have taken more blood than they’d given the king), it was amazing that he could even sit upright. “Aristotle, have you completed the census that I ordered you to compile?”

“Yes sire, it is here,” he held up the briefcase that held both a laptop and a series of disks.

“Charles, how many times have we come close to being discovered in the last decade?” Stefan asked.

“Nine hundred and sixty, Your Majesty,” Charles answered.

“On average eight times a month somewhere in the world a vampire comes close to being discovered or actually is discovered. It is no longer a question of keeping our race a secret. The question is when will we be discovered by the entire mortal world?” Stefan paused to let that settle into their minds. 

“When it happens it must be we who control it. It must be under our terms, not the mortals. The worst has already happened. They already know how to destroy us and now they have a new weapon, the Fever. It would not take much for them to design another virus that will kill us all. Dr. Lambert saved us and it is her research that has provided us with a way to control how the mortals see us. To the mortal world vampirism will be nothing more than, under the proper conditions, a highly contagious genetic virus. By making our people something that they can understand and most importantly feel slightly superior to, they will have no reason to start the hunts once more. 

“Do not misunderstand me. I personally couldn’t care less what they think of us, but the welfare of my people come first. We will be discovered and I must take every advantage I can to make sure that my people survive this situation. When the mortals discover us there will be no place to hide. Their new technologies will see to that. That means The Code must change and you must help the Enforcers Purge our people of those that will cause me more problems with the mortals than I can handle. I must do everything I can to prevent the wide scale hunting of our people by the mortals. Aristotle, take the lists I had you make and give out assignments to the Guards and Enforcers. You have four nights. At the first hour of Sunday, the Purge begins.”

“Dismissed,” Nick snapped and the Guards left, dragging Aristotle with them. Charles followed, bowing to the king before closing the door. “All right, Stefan. You need to feed and lay flat for a while. Up you go,” he said as he carried Stefan to the bedroom.


	10. Silence

Nick had forced Stefan to rest, but only long enough for him to replace the blood he’d lost in bonding the new King’s Guards. He’d planned for the bonding and had brought an entire case of the Raven’s house special for Stefan. He’d also made a list of potential residences for Stefan to go over – a nice, sedate chore. By the time Janette and Michelle had returned from whatever wedding related errands they’d been on, Stefan had narrowed the list down to four.

“Ugh! I’m glad we only have to go through with this once,” Michelle complained as the ladies came into the hotel suite. “The fittings for the dress are bad enough, but if I have to listen to one more overly flamboyant person go and on about colors and flowers and whatnot, I’m going to scream.”

Nick snickered. “Not to your taste, I take it?”

“Absolutely not,” Michelle agreed as she sat down next to Stefan. “I’ve nearly given about half a dozen of these guys heart attacks because I want as traditional a wedding as we can get. I mean, obviously somethings aren’t going to translate from when Stefan’s parents were married, but really! Ice sculptures? Five feet tall flower arraignments? It’s bad enough that there will be a cake that Stefan can’t eat, but half of the guests will be expecting him to. I can’t get us out of that one,” Michelle groaned.

“I can eat a small bite, but I will be nauseous for the rest of the night,” Stefan told her as Nick continued to laugh.

“As long as you don’t have to go throw up right away I think we can get away with it,” Michelle sighed. “Janette’s already picked out enough bloodwine for the rest of the reception, and my mother is picking out the food for the mortals that will be there, so that’s covered.”

“Well I’m certainly glad that the three of you are taking care of this,” Stefan said. “I’ve so much to do right now that I can’t even imagine trying to combine a vampire and mortal wedding without the mortals finding out that there are real vampires involved.”

“It has been a trial,” Janette agreed.

“Speaking of things that I have to do,” Stefan said. “Nicholas, Janette, come here.” Stefan gestured in front of him. Both vampires instantly knelt in front of their king. “For her work in curing the Fever I granted Dr. Lambert a boon. What she has chosen is for the two of you to be freed of your bond to your master. I know the sort of man Lucien is. I’ve watched how he has treated both of you and I agree with Dr. Lambert, both of you do deserve better. Janette, give me your wrist.”

Janette was shocked and worried but handed over her wrist as he commanded. Stefan first drank from her and then had her drink from him. As they exchanged blood, Stefan snapped her bond to Lucien and reforged it stronger to himself. With the bond came her memories of her master. Stefan swiftly searched through them to discover what lessons Lucien had failed to teach her. As he had feared, Janette had fared no better than her brother at the hands of their master. There were several large gaps in her education.

Stefan then held out his hand for Nick’s wrist and repeated the procedure. The horrors that LaCroix had visited upon his ‘favorite’ son were worse than he had anticipated. Dr. Lambert had been right about LaCroix making certain that Nick killed those he loved, and Nick, like the men of his own family, tended to fall in love with mortal women. What Stefan considered to be the worst was that it was easy to insure that a mortal woman survived, rather than died. All a vampire had to do was to make sure that their lover was bitten in a muscle area before things got too far along. The instinct to bite at climax would also direct the vampire to the spot that was already bleeding.

“Lucien has neglected to teach both of you certain things. For you Janette, most of these things are not vital for you to know but they are things you should have learned. For you Nick, some of these same things are vital. Without these lessons, your life has been much harder than it has to be. Now both of you listen to me,” Stefan said. He instructed them both on the techniques needed to shut out other vampires from their minds and watched as they both quickly mastered the technique. It didn’t take either of them as long as it would have if they had been fledglings. An hour later they were both proficient enough that he was satisfied they would not be subjected to another vampire’s thoughts without their knowledge and consent. It would also allow them to know things that he did not wish anyone else to know. Being a king meant that there were few people he could confide in. Both their new ability and their bond with him meant that Nick and Janette were now among those few.

Stefan turned to Nick to give him the assignment he would now have at court. “Nicholas, you are now the Captain of the Royal Guard. I will be your primary responsibility. However for the moment, I need you to stay at your job as a detective. When the time comes, you will be an example and an important one, but for now, I just need you to be with me when I’m in meetings and during the day. Nick?” Stefan was startled at Nick’s appearance, even for a vampire he was deathly pale, nor was he moving.

“All I can hear is silence,” Nick whispered. “For so long, I’ve lived in a battlefield, but now there is only silence.”

It was then that Stefan finally understood. He had always known that Nick broadcast his emotions loudly, but he had thought (as had most people who met the Crusader) that it was only because his was an extremely passionate nature, even for a vampire. That wasn’t the case. Nick broadcast so loudly because he was so strong, and the stronger a vampire could broadcast, the sharper his ‘hearing’ was. Nick must have been inundated on a nightly basis every time he got even remotely close to another vampire. How could have Lucien missed this? How could he have taken such a chance with Nick’s sanity? It was no wonder the man sought a cure; it was probably the only way he could see to live and not go insane!

Stefan explained Nick’s situation to Janette and asked her to take a sound asleep Michelle down to the caddy while he took Nick. Fortunately it was an easy trip from the hotel back to the loft. They arrived just before sunup. Janette put Michelle in Nick’s bed so that she could sleep with Stefan, while Stefan lowered Nick onto the recliner. “Nick, can you hear me?”

“I hear you, Stefan. Thanks for taking care of things right now. I’m afraid I need to get used to this before I can be of much use,” Nick whispered.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll adjust quickly, but the sun is almost up and I must sleep now. Good day my oldest friend. I’m pleased that I was able to help you so,” Stefan whispered as well. Then he climbed up the stairs to Nick’s bedroom to sleep.

Janette ensured that both her liege and his lady were safely asleep before returning to the main floor of the loft. Then she sat down next to Nick and leaned into him. She and Nick had shared a passionate romance but it had eventually burned itself out. Not that they couldn’t bring fires from the embers if she tried she knew, but what they had now was even better than the romance had been. Nicola would always be her knight defender and her confidant. She would always need that more than she needed a lover.

When Natalie entered the loft she wasn’t sure what to expect. Would Nick be angry with her? Would he be sad, happy? There was no telling how he would react. LaCroix had been abusive and victims of abuse were often conflicted over their abusers and as far as she could see Nick was very much conflicted in what he felt for LaCroix. She found Nick leaning against Janette, both of them cuddled in Nick’s recliner. Janette was watching a fire burn in the fireplace and Nick had his head tilted back and seemed to be listening to something that Natalie couldn’t hear.

Janette turned so suddenly to face the elevator that Nat wasn’t sure she’d seen the vampiress move. She stood up and moving quickly, threw her arms around the startled mortal. “Thank you, doctor for not asking for LaCroix’s head! This is so much better for us, especially Nicola!” she exclaimed in a whisper. “I never truly understood why he was the way he is before. Now I understand that he could hear so much more than I. It is no wonder he never enjoyed being part of a Community and wished to be mortal again. I’m surprised the noise did not drive him mad.”

“What noise?” Natalie asked in confusion. She had managed to catch that Stefan had found a way to give Nick and Janette their freedom from LaCroix without killing him (something that she was grateful for) but Janette’s talk of noise threw her for a loop.

Janette swore delicately in French. “Of course you do not know. Come, sit with us and I will explain.” She gently pulled Natalie over and sat her down next to Nick. Then she perched on the arm as Nick cuddled into Natalie. “Has Nicola explained that one vampire can sense another even if they do not share a blood bond?”

“Yes,” Natalie said quietly. She didn’t know why they were whispering but she would follow Janette’s lead, and as for Nick’s cuddling, well, she certainly wasn’t going to object to that. “A blood bond is the bond between vampire family members or those who share their blood with each other. The more often they share blood, the stronger the bond is.”

“Yes, but for Nicola it is more than that. For most of us sensing each other is something we must learn, another skill we must have to survive, but Nicola is so strong that he senses everyone all the time. That is why he found it so difficult to sense just one vampire when he was a fledgling. How do you pick out a single voice in a crowd? He could not. Only if we were away from a Community could he do it. That is why he has never been happy when surrounded by his own kind. That is why he has always sought the company of mortals. He cannot hear them.”

Nick chuckled, he could tell that Natalie was still confused, and of course Janette would dismiss his religious beliefs out of hand. “When you asked for us to be freed from our fledgling bonds to LaCroix, Stefan knew that you didn’t want to kill anyone but would accept it if that was what it took. So he chose to make Janette and I members of the Royal Guard. The Guard are like the Enforcers, bound only to the King. Stefan then taught us how to block out other vampires, something that LaCroix never bothered to do. Thank you for the silence Nat. You have no idea how much it helps.”

He wasn’t going to tell her what he had begun to suspect; that a good portion of his mood swings hadn’t been completely his, but that whatever he had been feeling had been amplified by others. Time would tell if his suspicions were correct. He knew, however, that his temper was solely his own. That was something that hadn’t changed from his mortal life when he had become a vampire. He had just become better at controlling it.


	11. Good News

Schanke and Tracy were making their scheduled stop at Nick’s before heading home. They had great news. Schanke was practically dancing as he opened the elevator door. “Hey guys!” he called as he burst into the room. “We’ve got great news! The best news ever!” Tracy was grinning as she followed the senior detective into the room.

“Keep it down,” Nick said, “I’ve got guests sleeping upstairs.”

“Sneed confessed. It was all deliberate and he said it was because he didn’t believe that your allergy was real. Lots of guys down at the precinct on days talked to IA too. Heck, even Miller down in Records came in voluntarily, and admitted that although he was giving you a hard time he and the guys down there had done what they could to minimize the sun exposure you got by coming over to the door so that you didn’t have to go into the room because of all of the windows,” Schanke said, nearly vibrating in place in his attempt to keep quiet.

“They also said that most of what you were being ordered to do was stuff that didn’t have to be done immediately. There was no reason to call you in early. I told them that most of the paper shuffling was supposed to be my job, after all I’m the rookie here!” Tracy added.

“And that’s not the best part of all! You’ll never guess!” Schanke grinned.

“The world’s best polka group will be performing at Sneed’s trial?” Natalie guessed.

“No, Nat that can’t be it. Elvis came out of hiding and is playing at my welcome back party, right Schank?” Nick teased.

Schanke took their teasing with grace. “Better, the powers that be got Stonetree to come in and take Sneed’s place while Reece is recovering!”

“That’s great!” “Wonderful!” Nick and Natalie exclaimed. They had both missed working with the large Native American captain. He had been the one to team up Schanke with Nick in the first place. It was under his command that they had become the best detective team on the Toronto police force.

“Yeah, they felt that it was best under the circumstances for someone who had already worked with Nick and that Nick trusted to take over the department while Reece is recovering. That’s why they pulled in Stonetree. He’s worked with you the longest of all the captains on the force.” Delighted Schanke stood there bouncing and grinning so hard it looked like his face was about to snap in two.

“It looks like today is the day for good news isn’t it?” Natalie said, looking at Nick. Did he want her to say anything? Schanke was the only one here who didn’t know about vampires but he did know that LaCroix was Nick’s father and he had approached her before worried about the emotional abuse he feared the man was heaping on Nick. Nick nodded slightly. He would trust Natalie’s judgment on what should and should not be told.

“There’s more good news. LaCroix is now under a restraining order. That little blow up of his in the department had repercussions too. I just hope it slaps some sense into his head about what he was doing to his children.”

“I thought he was worried about Nick’s health? I mean, I know I don’t like Mr. Creepy Crawly, but I gotta admit, Nick was sick.” Schanke said.

“You don’t yell at someone for being sick and you don’t belittle the job they love Schanke,” Natalie said from experience. “That’s abuse, plain and simple. Someone understood what they were yelling at each other and got a judge on Nick and Janette’s side. LaCroix won’t be able order them around for a while at any rate.”

Janette stared at Schanke in shock. She knew of the ‘argument’ that the two mortals were talking about. She’d have been scared stiff if she had been in that room. There was nothing scarier than her former master when he was upset and this mere mortal had been there and still had the audacity to call him by that name? Finally she gave in to all of the shocks that had hit her that night. “Mr. Creepy Crawly,” she sniggered and then couldn’t stop laughing. “You called The General, ‘Mr. Creepy Crawly’!”

“Well he is,” Schanke protested, laughing along with her. Tracy blanched a bit, finally understanding exactly who ‘The General’, Toronto’s ruling elder was. She couldn’t imagine calling him Creepy Crawly either. 

“Nicola, I finally understand why you like this man! I would have never believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears! Mr. Creepy Crawly!” Janette subsided into giggles. That set Nick off as well.

“Ok you two, it’s late and you need to get some sleep. You’re both getting punch drunk.” Natalie said as she levered herself up off of the recliner. “Come on Janette, you can sleep on the couch.” Natalie settled Janette down on the couch with the blanket and pillow that Nick had been using the day before with Tracy’s help.  
Nick and Schanke watched as they got Janette comfortable. “Well partner, I’m supposed to ask if you want to do any computer work from here, but I think the doc would have my guts for garters if I did. When you start to go stir crazy for lack of stuff to do around here, let me know. Fortunately things are really slow right now. We only had one new case come in, an H and S, pretty cut and dry,” Schanke said.

Schanke pulled out the notebook that was common to all detectives from his coat pocket. “Helen Mitchell, age nineteen, worked at Delmar’s Coffee and Snack House over on eighth and pine streets. She was dating a Gary Voigt for about; get this, six days before she broke up with him.” Schanke shook his head. He knew it didn’t take long for someone to get obsessed, but six days???? “According to her roommate Helen was an old fashioned girl and wasn’t into sleeping around. That’s why most of the guys she dated didn’t last very long. They’d start wanting to jump into the sack and she’d break it off. Even for her though, Voigt was short term. She told the roommate that something about him was starting to creep her out which was why she broke up with him.

“Anyway, Voigt doesn’t get the message and starts harassing her. Unfortunately, he doesn’t do anything that we can pin on him and he walks on a harassment charge. Two days later he goes over to the coffee shop and finds her flirting with a customer, one Larry Sheaffer. It wasn’t anything big or dramatic, the other waitress says they all do it and she was more low key than most of them, but Voigt takes exception, pulls out a gun,” Schanke looked up from his notes, “We’re still working on where he got the gun. And he proceeds to shout out the usual, ‘You can’t have her, she’s mine! If I can’t have her no one can!’ and shoots her, Sheaffer and himself. Mitchell and Voigt died on scene, Larry Sheaffer is in critical at the hospital.” Schanke shook his head at the waste. 

“You’re right, that does sound cut and dry.” Nick paused for a moment to consider the tragedy. “I hope that Mr. Sheaffer recovers.”

“He should, he got medical help right away and while the wounds were serious it didn't take long to patch him back together. Right now they're just making sure he doesn't get an infection or something. Well, I gotta go; Myra’s expecting me home for breakfast,” Schanke said, closing his notebook

“Thanks for the good news Schanke. I really needed to hear that,” Nick said. Honestly it was a relief to know that he could trust the captain in charge of his department when he went back.

“Any time partner, any time, Hostalabyebye!” Schanke smiled on his way out, knowing that Tracy was planning to catch a ride with Natalie since they lived close to each other. One of these days Nick was going to trust him with the truth, he knew it. Either that or he was going to have to tell Nick because Janette had almost blown her cover right then and there. He’d actually seen her fangs for a second when she was laughing at him. Ok, so calling some probably very old, and very mean vampire a name wasn’t very smart but when it got his partner and his ‘sister’ (yeah and he was the king of Egypt!) to laugh it was worth it. They were both far too serious. And he was just the guy to get them to lighten up.

Nick’d had his own share of topsy turvy moments tonight. He settled into the recliner and once more listened to the sound of the silence. He had missed this. He hadn’t known just how much he had missed it. He didn’t notice when he drifted off to sleep.

Natalie and Tracy, however, did notice and grinned at each other. “Ok, now that Schake is gone, you have to tell me what really happened,” Tracy demanded in a whisper as the two mortal women moved over to the dining table.

Natalie sighed. “I asked Stefan to free Nick and Janette from their fledgling bonds to LaCroix as my boon. I can’t stand the way he hurts people that he’s supposed to take care of. I’m an abuse survivor myself, and I know that LaCroix’s been abusing Janette for nearly a thousand years and Nick for nearly eight hundred.”

“So that sort of shouting match that they had at the precinct wasn’t unusual?” Tracy asked, a shrinking feeling pooling in her guts.

“Not really, oh LaCroix had to push Nick to get the Knightmare to come out, but the man is a manipulative cretin at best, and since he’s two thousand years old he’s had lots of time to perfect his little games,” Natalie growled.

“And here I thought my family was bad,” Tracy huffed. “Well, have you found a place for your new lab?”

“Yeah, the building across from the morgue has been empty for a couple of months now, and it has plenty of room for a lab and offices. As long as Stefan is backing me, I’m going to be able to do as much research as I want.” She sighed. “The thing is, I know that I’m probably going to have to give up the sun if I’m going to be able to finish it.”

“It’s going to take that long?” Tracy asked.

“The vampire virus mutates on a dime, and the Fever was the only thing I’ve found that destroys it utterly. The problem with that, is it also kills the vampire in question, so that doesn’t work. It has taken me four years to get to the point where I can positively identify the cause of vampirism medically speaking and it’s only been in the last six months that I’ve found even a couple of things that can effect it, unfortunately none of them have a positive outcome for the vampire in question,” Natalie told her. “It’s going to be a long slog, but I think the cure will be worth it, even if Nick doesn’t want it after this.”

Tracy grimaced. “He wanted to become mortal to escape LaCroix,” she said flatly.

Natalie nodded. “I’m pretty sure that was one of his motivating factors. Top it off with the fact that he was a Crusader and he feels guilty over all of the people he killed over the centuries, even if he didn’t have a choice about that, and apparently vampires are rather telepathic and empathic with each other and LaCroix never taught him how to shield himself from the resulting noise that accompanies a Community. I’m honestly surprised he’s as sane as he is.”

“Well, that does explain a few of my partner’s stranger quirks,” Tracy admitted.


	12. Girl Talk

The next day Michelle was very happy to hand over the keys to the building next to the morgue to Natalie. It had been ridiculously easy to purchase, and Nick had already arranged for his security company to install something he considered adequate. Janette had sent a cleaning crew, (comprised of vampires who had been cured of the Fever at Doctor Lambert’s direct hands) through the building the night before, so it was ready for Natalie’s first inspection.

Tracy looked on as Michelle handed Natalie a set of keys. The young detective was taking her job seriously, especially as she had learned that Michelle was actually King Stefan’s fiancé, not his wife. She understood how vulnerable that made Michelle. Once she was married to Stefan no one would dare to touch her, but before then, well if someone really wanted to it was a good time to take her out. 

“Right now there are only two sets of physical keys to the building. You and Nick each have a set. Nick has one so that he can get the building properly secured and that set will go to your office manager once security is in place. We have picked out someone as a temporary fill in for the job, but you have the final say on who actually gets it. You need someone you can work with, and Stefan and I are very aware of that,” Michelle told Natalie.

Natalie thanked her and after taking the keys, tried them out on the front door. The first thing that she found was that it was unlocked, which made sense because she had parked right next to the security team’s van, but she quickly found out which key was which and entered the building. As far as she was concerned the entry way was one of the perks of the building, and was one of the reasons that she had picked it out. Essentially a room with two glassed in walls, it would help to keep heat in during the winter months and act as a mud room – particularly useful when she had a case where the corpse was in a messy location. She couldn’t recall how many times she’d left a scene covered in mud or nastier things.

Once she’d tried the keys on the inside door, (the same as the outside one, but she was sure Nick would be changing that soon), she stepped into the lobby. Waiting in the lobby, behind a taped line on the linoleum floor marking how far the sunlight could reach into the room, was what appeared to be a teenaged girl in a rather outlandish outfit. Natalie was too experienced, albeit from the fringes of vampire society, to be fooled by appearances. This young looking woman was a vampire, and while her outfit was startling, the black boots, long black bustle skirt, long sleeved white shirt worn under a black leather corset, and tiny top hat wasn’t the most outrageous set of clothes that Natalie had seen in her years as a coroner, not by a long shot. At least the vampiress was completely covered. So Natalie accepted the hand that she held out to shake.

“Hello, Doctor Lambert. My name is Rose, and hopefully I’ll be your new office manager. I’ve done some preliminary work in setting up the lab, but a lot of things need your ok or for you to point me in the right direction,” Rose said simply, as they shook hands.

“Ok, give me an overview of what you’ve got so far,” Natalie requested.

Rose consulted the clipboard she was holding in her left hand. “Alright, I’m planning on using the main lobby as my office, and using two different floor coverings to show where the sunlight reaches during the day. The tape works for now, but it is not at all subtle. I’ve assumed that most of the people working here will be mortal and therefore won’t be told the full extent of your research, so I’m trying for subtle whenever possible. I’ll need some direction on what is acceptable for the floor of the lobby; tile, carpet, wood, colors, that sort of thing,” Rose said, checking off the first thing on her list.

“Good idea,” Natalie agreed. “If anyone asks we’re doing anti-viral research. They shouldn’t question it. Doctors still haven’t found a good treatment for viruses and the competition between labs is very fierce so no one will question that you can’t talk about details. It’s also true, so you won’t be lying when you do the preliminary interviews.”

“Oh, good. That’s something that I was worried about,” Rose admitted, as she wrote a note.

“As for the floor, tile is probably best for the entry. I want to turn that into a mud room with lockers and wood flooring would probably be best for the lobby, it’s tasteful but easy to clean. Tasteful tells people that we have money backing us and easy to clean means that we’re serious about doing biological research,” Natalie told her, instructing her on the ways serious researchers would look at a private facility.

Rose nodded, quickly adding to her notes. “Alright, now as you can see there are three doors here in the lobby. That one,” she pointed to the door that was semi hidden, (and probably would be with a little office decor), in the corner, “leads down to the basement. It’s completely underground and without windows. The building’s electric and maintenance rooms are down there, so I thought it would be a good place for the computer servers, security room, and possibly a daytime bolt hole or vampire friendly apartment.” Rose wriggled her hand back and forth. “I’m really not sure about the last one, but keeping track of possible daytime hiding places is practically instinct at this point.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, just how old are you?” Natalie asked, wondering just how soon that sort of instinct kicked in.

“I was turned upon the occasion of my wedding to a vampire that I utterly detested, (a source of great shock to him as he considered himself a deft hand with the ladies), in the year 1879, but you need not worry about my personal discipline. I have found that the combination of manners that my mother taught me and the strength of will that I needed to get around her so that I could achieve an education has translated into an accelerated maturation. I have no problem living on my own among mortals,” Rose explained. “Janette is the one who recommended me for the position, and she thoroughly reviewed my education to ensure that I would not be a liability due to my youth.”

“If you don’t mind, I’m definitely going to want to take a few samples from you. I’m not stupid enough to go after samples from a fledgling on my own, and you are the youngest vampire I’ve met who was safe to ask,” Natalie told her.

Rose smiled. “That is certainly not a problem, and I can collect samples for you once you’ve shown me how to do so.”

“Thanks, now as to the apartment, I think that is a good idea, just in case we end up with more than a couple of vampires stuck here during the day,” Natalie said, moving back to the subject of the building.

“If you’ll come this way,” Rose said, leading over to the door set into the back wall on the right hand side of lobby. “This leads to what used to be conference rooms. These will be converted into the actual labs once the renovations are complete.” The hallway beyond the door contained three doors on each side and a single door in the wall at the end. Rose opened the first door on the left and ushered the mortal ladies in. 

The fact that this had once been a government building was appallingly evident. The walls were painted a flat, dull white and was stained in several places and the floor was covered in dingy linoleum. There were holes in the walls where things had been removed and large scuff marks from desks on the floor. A large stack of shipping boxes and crates were stacked along the far wall.

Rose pointed at the pile. “Those contain the parts to an electronic microscope, the most powerful on the market, with all the bells and whistles. The rest of the equipment on your list is on order and should be here by the end of the week. The lab rooms on this side contain no windows as you can see, but the ones on the other side do, and all of the rooms are the same size as this one. I have a tentative plan to fill those windows in or cover them with metal shutters.”

“Ok, convert two of those rooms into one lab and expand it halfway into the last room. Have shutters on the window in that room and we’ll make it a place where we can have controlled sunlight exposure to the samples. Fill in the rest of the windows, but have windows, or better yet, glass walls for the rest of labs along the hallway,” Natalie requested.

Rose nodded and took notes as Natalie continued. “We need airlock doors at each end of the hallway, tile flooring and walls, lab benches with work stations along the walls, and down the center of each room. We’ll probably move those around a bit as we get equipment and people in. Everyone has their own working style, and that will affect the placement of equipment.”

“Not a problem, and the renovations have tentatively been scheduled to finish within two weeks once the details are defined,” Rose told her as she opened the door at the end of the hall. This door led to another hallway leading off to the left, with only one door at the other end.

“I take it this leads to offices on the other side of the building?” Natalie asked.

“Yes, I wasn’t sure what to do here,” Rose said.

“Put the airlock entrance to the lab for this end of the hall in here, add a row of lockers and shelving for sterile clothing, and a security/secretary station. I want a member of the Royal Guard on duty there at all times. They can make sure that no one enters the labs that isn’t authorized, and that they’re observing clean room protocols,” Natalie said firmly. With more people knowing about her research came more risks. Keeping her files on Nick locked up in her desk at the morgue had only been adequate when no one had known, or cared, about the fact that she had a private project. Once money came into the picture, all bets were off.

Rose nodded. “They are less obvious than Enforcers,” she said as she continued scribbling notes. “The offices,” she said, leading them into the next hallway, “are very generic with windows in the offices on the outer wall. The only set of restrooms are located on this side of the building and I’ve converted one of the offices into an examination room, or rather I made a stab at it based on a regular doctor’s examination room.” She opened the door to the inner office nearest the lobby.

The flooring hadn’t been replaced, nor the walls repaired, but there was a standard exam table, a table with a laptop on it, several semi-comfortable looking chairs, a scale with height measurement, and a set of base cabinets along one wall. Natalie investigated the drawers, finding standard generic equipment such as a stethoscope and thermometer. “This is good, I can get started with this. I’ll need two sets of locking file cabinets as well as the usual desk, chairs, bookcases, etc. in my office,” Natalie told her. “As for the rest, carry on with the theme of tasteful and easy to clean. I can’t think of anything else right now, but I’m sure it’ll come up.” Rose agreed and bowed herself out of the room, promising to get right to work on the renovations.

Natalie turned to Michelle. “Since we’re here and I’m supposed to be your personal physician, I’d like to get a baseline for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Why not?” Michelle said, and moved over to the scale. Getting her height and weight only took a moment, and Natalie recorded them on in a notebook she had in her purse. Then Michelle sat down on the exam table so that Natalie could get her blood pressure. She pulled her jacket off and Natalie saw the bite marks on her shoulders, thanks to her wearing an off the shoulder blouse. “Stefan says that you know more about vampires medically than anyone in the world. Do you know anything about pregnancy? Stefan said that his mother had a normal pregnancy except that she had a craving for blood. We’re trying to start a family.”

“Are you kidding? It took me three years to get Nick to tell me that a male vampire can’t climax without taking blood from his partner and even then he wouldn’t look at me for a week afterwards. If I want a blood sample, or a skin sample no problem, but if I actually asked him for a semen sample I think he’d actually spontaneously combust. There are times when it is very clear that he’s still a thirteenth century knight.” Natalie laughed as she examined the bite marks. “I do know that Nick was told he was sterile and there has been more than one vampire that has told me and I quote ‘Vampires and mortals don’t play house. Either the mortal ends up dead or a fledgling.’ Personally I have some serious doubts about that seeing as how Royal vampires are born rather than brought across.” 

Michelle thought about the things that she and Stefan had discussed before becoming lovers. “I think it has to do with several different things. First is that Royal vampires are born and that means that their blood is supposed to be more pure or something. All vampires descend from the Royal family in one way or another. Another is that they have more control, even as fledglings because they grow up as vampires. They learn control as small children. Well, most of them do. I’m not sure that Radu ever learned that lesson. Also, Stefan told me that fresh blood wins over hidden blood every time. That’s why he bites me before we get started.”

“The King has a brother?” Tracy asked from where she sat in the corner. She had her own reasons for being curious about the subject of Royal vampires versus regular ones.

“He did until just over two months ago. They were half-brothers. Radu was permanently warped both physically and mentally. He murdered their father and then went on a killing spree. Karl, one of Stefan’s mortal friends, and I helped Stefan kill Radu. Well, ok I was more of the damsel in distress than helpful but Radu and the two fledglings he made did end up dead.” Michelle didn’t want to talk about the fact that those fledglings had been her friends.

“I’ve done the whole damsel in distress thing too where vampires are concerned,” Tracy said with sympathy.

“I don’t see anything wrong with the bite marks. I’ll need to take a blood sample to see how much of the virus is in your blood. As for a pregnancy, as long as you don’t have any problems with infertility and he doesn’t take too much blood I don’t see any problems. How long have the two of you been trying to get pregnant?” Natalie asked. 

“We’ve only just started trying for a baby, less than a month really. What can you tell me about this virus?” Michelle asked. Natalie’s research was vital, she knew that, but she really wanted to know more specifics.

“The cause of vampirism is a viral nucleotide that attaches itself to a person’s RNA. The damned thing is a persistent son of a gun but it only takes hold of a person if both a certain level of the virus is present and there is a large amount of blood lost. If both of those things happen it becomes extremely contagious. I only found it last year. I must admit, I’d love to get a sample from his majesty, all kinds of samples to be honest,” Natalie grinned. “I don’t suppose you could persuade him for me?” she asked felicitously.

“What do you mean it’s persistent?” Michelle asked. Tracy nodded as she wanted to know as well.

“I’ve been trying to find a cure for the virus. Nick doesn’t want to be a vampire any more. Or at least he didn’t while he was still bound to LaCroix. Considering how the man abused him for nearly eight centuries, I’m not surprised.” Natalie sighed. “He may not feel the same way anymore but the truth is I’m hooked on the puzzle. Now that I know what the physical cause is, I will find a cure, one way or another, even if I have to give up the sun to keep working on it. Even if no one else wants it, it is a solution to those who survive a vampire attack with too much of the virus in their systems. Give them the cure and they won’t become hunters. It will be just another assault that needs to be treated.” She didn’t speak of the other reason why she would give up the sun. That was still between her and Nick, if he decided that now they could be together or not she’d deal with it.

“Vachon told me about Hunters. Anything that keeps their numbers down is a good idea in my book,” Tracy said. “And it’s not like I can’t understand where they’re coming from. I mean, it must be really horrible to be caught half way between being a vampire and being mortal.”

“Exactly, and I’m sure that Nick isn’t the only childer being abused, excuse me, WAS being abused by his master. I’d like to be able to give them an option as well.” Natalie said. 

“How did the two of you find out about vampires being real?” Michelle asked.

Tracy started with her story, “I was checking out a make shift morgue that held the bodies of the victims of an airplane bombing. Vachon was one of the passengers and he was poking around looking for his hand. I found him and well, for some reason he decided not to kill me. We’ve been friends ever since, that was about eight months ago.”

Natalie smiled, “I was working on my birthday when the body of a man who had tried to stop a robbery came in. The robber had thrown a pipe bomb in the guy’s face for his trouble. Nick woke up on me and then I found out later that he was a homicide detective. We ended up working together not only on trying to find a cure but professionally as well. That was four years ago.”

“And the two of you are still claiming to be ‘just friends’?” Tracy exclaimed. “Come on, you can’t tell me that there isn’t something more between you and Nick.”

Natalie sighed. If there was anyone who could understand what she was going through it would be these two. She grabbed her courage and confessed. “When Nick was a fledgling he bargained for his sister’s life with LaCroix. He would let her live only if when one day Nick fell in love with a mortal woman her life would belong to him. Not only do we have problems with Nick losing control but if LaCroix had found out before his majesty had broken the fledgling bond between Nick and LaCroix I’d be dead. Now, the status quo is gone and I have no idea what’s going to happen now.” Natalie admitted. “I don’t know if he wants to try to have a relationship with me or what. I’ll just have to wait and see.”

Tracy reached over and hugged Natalie. “There is no doubt he’s going to want to have a relationship with you Nat. And if that thick as two bricks partner of mine doesn’t take advantage of this Schanke and I will both gang up on him. We’ll even get Myra in on it!” she promised.

“I’ll help too.” Michelle promised. They put their heads together and started to plan.


	13. The Purge

Lucien LaCroix was furious and every vampire in the city knew it. Even he couldn’t contain the rage that echoed through the ability of the vampires to sense one another. It was all he could do to control himself physically. The King had taken both of his favored children from him and had given him no explanation as to why. When he had gone to demand a reason, Nicholas had not even allowed him to see the King. He had turned him away. Him, one of the Elders of the Council! Nicholas had told him that the King would see him when he met with the Council of Elders and not before.

“It is the right of the King to claim any vampire he wishes Lucien. You know this,” Elder Ari said.

“Yes, but to take both my favored children without so much as an explanation is not something I can except quietly!” he hissed.

“But I don’t owe you an explanation Lucien.” Stefan stood in the doorway of the backroom at the Raven. This was where the Council was meeting with the King. Lucien’s rage was so great, and the other Elders were so strong, that the only customers out front were mortal. Every other vampire in the city had cleared out. “And even if I did, you should have figured out at least a few of the reasons why I chose Nicholas and Janette without my telling you.”

Stefan strode to the head of the table and sat down, with Nicholas and the Enforcer Demetri flanking him every step of the way, each carrying a naked broadsword. It was obvious that Demetri at least was ready and eager to use his. “Nicholas and Janette are now Royal Guards. Nicholas is the Captain of the Guard and Janette is the personal guard for my mortal lady, just as she was for my mother.”

“Well, that explains it,” one Elder, a short Chinese woman, muttered. The Elder next to her jabbed her in the ribs.

“There are other reasons of course,” Stefan continued smoothly, as though he hadn’t heard and seen the by play. “The Enforcers will begin the Purge tonight. This way they need not concern themselves with my safety nor that of my lady’s.” He turned hard eyes onto Lucien. “It also allowed me to save your life, Lucien.”

“WHAT????!” the cry came from all of the Elders except LaCroix.

“That mortal doctor!” he hissed.

“She wanted your head Lucien! Be grateful that what she asked for was Janette and Nicholas’ release from you. You brought this upon yourself. She does not have the full story of what you have done to your ‘favored children’ over the centuries but I do. You almost drove Nicholas mad! How could you have refused to teach him to shield himself when you must have known how strong he is? He has been bombarded from the moment he crossed over!” Stefan didn’t have to fake his fury.

“There was no need,” Lucien began only to be interrupted by Stefan.

“I have only one thing to say about that, Lucien - Gregory!” he snapped. That silenced everyone. They had all been present when Gregory had come to court. His master had been not much older than Stefan was now but he had not taught his first fledgling how to shield. Once they had arrived at court Gregory hadn’t lasted long and he had taken out many of the Royal Guard in his attempt to stop his torment.

“I did not realize he was that strong,” LaCroix whispered.

Nick was honestly amused by how quickly Stefan had shut down his former master, and at LaCroix’s shock. Of course the fact that he was standing right there, behind and to the right of Stefan’s chair, with the point of his broadsword resting on the carpet and the hilt in his hands probably had just as much to do with it as Stefan’s anger. After all, it hadn’t been that long ago that Nick had actually staked LaCroix, even if he had missed the vampire Elder’s heart by inches. They both knew that he wouldn’t have any trouble finishing off his former master this time if Stefan demanded it.

“You never bothered to look you mean,” Stefan snapped. He took a deep breath and continued, “Our debt to Dr. Lambert as a nation is now repaid. She will be continuing her research with my full backing because it is stupid to ignore the fact that mortals created a fatal epidemic without any knowledge of our existence. Her research should prevent another one. She has also agreed to be my lady’s personal physician. Anyone who harms her is to be executed immediately as I regard it as an attack upon my future queen.” He glared at LaCroix, who bowed his head at the order. “Detective Tracy Vetter, one of Nicholas’ partners on the police force, and mortal friend of Javier Vachon, has agreed to become my lady’s daylight guard. I will marry my lady here in Toronto in four months’ time, and you will all be in attendance.”

“Of course, your majesty,” they all agreed. It was a more than reasonable demand, and would let them met their new queen.

“The changes to the Code are thus - Any vampire who deliberately harms a child, by physically injuring, raping, killing or bringing them across forfeits their lives. Any potential fledglings must be of age by the customs and laws of their home country. Any potential fledglings must give their full, and knowledgeable, consent before being brought across. All vampires must obey the laws of the country they are living in. If you want to hunt, go live in a war zone, there are plenty of them around, but I want no more accidental fledglings of any kind. The last change is this – once the Purge is complete, there will be no more hiding.”

Nick had to stifle his snickers over that one. The entire council was staring at Stefan in shock. Of course he understood where Stefan was coming from, it was damned hard to hide these days and it was only getting worse, but you’d think that these people hadn’t even thought about it. 

Stefan rolled his eyes. “There are security cameras all over and they are only gaining in popularity. Some mortals even have them inside their homes so they can watch their cats while they aren’t at home. With that sort of empirical evidence it’s only a matter of time before we’re discovered and I want it to be on my terms, not because someone was caught feeding. Now, do any of you have any business you wish to bring to my attention?” Stefan asked changing the subject.

“James Grannis wishes to establish a new Community,” Elder Annittas began.

“Where and who are the locals?” Stefan asked. The next few hours were taken up with similar tasks, determining the general placement of new Communities, the planning of new refuges, the Archive being open to the Council, and Stefan’s announcement that Castle Vladislas would be rebuilt.

“Are you going to turn the entire reconstruction over to mortals?” Elder Mari asked.

“No, Lucien, who knows more about Castles than anyone else, will supervise the reconstruction. Lucien, see to it that all of the crypts and coffins are removed to the Prejmar Fortress before the mortals begin. Karl will show you where they are to be stored. A coffin isn’t going to cause any comments in a monastery,” Stefan instructed.

Lucien nodded. His temper had cooled a great deal when he had learned just what the ‘good’ doctor had wanted and why. That Nicholas was as strong as Gregory had been had never crossed his mind but now that the idea had he could see how so much of his son’s frustrating behavior was similar to that of the doomed fledgling. Of course, the fact that they had spent so much time in areas with low vampire populations had built up Nicholas’ tolerance. It was probably the only thing that had kept him from greeting the sun, and now the King was giving him an important assignment. There would have to be modifications to the old ruins to ensure that the mortal woman lived long enough to bear his King a child.

“Majesty, it’s midnight,” Nick said, and swung his sword, taking Demetri’s head off. The Council stared as the former Enforcer’s head bounced across the conference table.

Stefan nodded to him and turned to the Council. “The Purge begins,” he said simply and with that Nick escorted Stefan out of the room. The Council looked around and wondered who among them would still be there when they met again.

 

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“So much for a slow week,” Schanke muttered as he held up the crime scene tape for Tracy. From midnight on it was like homicide was the new national sport, or at least reporting it was. They had yet to find a single corpse. There were reports coming in from all over that some kind of crazies were running around staking people, chopping their heads off, and one report claimed that a man was set on fire. He just hoped Nick and Janette weren’t on someone’s hit list. ‘Now if it was Mr. Creepy Crawly I wouldn’t mind,’ he thought to himself.

He supposed he ought to include Tracy’s snitch if he was praying. He knew the guy had to be a vampire if the looks he and Knight had been shooting each other behind Tracy’s back were any indication and he had been helpful. “Did anyone find a corpse this time?!” Schanke called out annoyed.

“Yep! And this one’s a doozy Detective,” the uniform said. “We also got a witness but she isn’t talking. In fact, she refuses to say anything. I mean she won’t even open her mouth.”

“Great just what we needed, a witness that we’re not even sure is a witness,” he shook his head. He walked through a bunch of trees to a small clearing in the park. To one side crouched a young woman staring at the body, she was curled into herself and completely ignoring the uniform standing next to her. In the middle of the clearing the body of a tall man lay, staked multiple times to the ground. There were wooden stakes in his arms, legs and in multiple places in his body, most noticeably right where his heart should be.

“Tracy, take the witness, maybe she needs a woman’s touch. I’ll take the body.” Tracy nodded and Schanke went over to where Natalie was examining the body. “What have we got, Nat?” He really didn’t want it to be what he thought it was. The last thing he wanted around was some loony tunes who were randomly hunting down people they thought were vampires. His own little bunch of blood drinking creatures of the night might be in danger. ‘And Myra and Jenny would kill him if anything happened to Uncle Nick!’ Schanke thought.

“Damned if I know what to make of it, Schanke. He’s been staked multiple times and I’m not sure that it was just with the wood stakes.” She pointed to the flesh surrounding the wood. “That looks to me to be some kind of corrosive. I’ll know more when we get this guy back to the lab. It’s going to be a hell of a job getting him off the ground though. Those stakes went all the way through and into the ground.”

“Oh man, oh man, oh man.” Schanke just shook his head. “I want these guys, Nat. It would be just our luck for these nut cases to go after Nick.”

“Don’t even think that, Donald Schanke!” Natalie hissed. She knew who was behind the killing and most likely why. This had to be part of the Purge that Nick and Stefan had told her was coming. She had to get this one back to the lab before the sun came up and toasted the corpse. The last thing they needed was to get that on tape!

Later at the morgue, Natalie carefully removed every stake except the one in the corpse’s heart. Whoever this was he hadn’t just been part of the Purge, he had provoked the Enforcers into a real rage, and the last thing she wanted to do was possibly allow him to be revived. “Natalie?” Tracy said as she poked her head into autopsy room. Natalie turned and waved her in. “Well, what are we going to do now?”

“Well, this one wasn’t supposed to be found. Whatever he did he really pissed off some Enforcers. Usually they just stake, decapitate or set someone on fire, they don’t do things like this all the time,” Natalie said. “I think he was supposed to be finally burned in the sun. Contact Nick, and let him know where all of the evidence is. The Enforcers did this, so they have to clean it up,” she said, as she began to take samples from the corpse for her research. This was a chance she wasn’t going to have again, so she was getting everything she could think of to test.

Tracy nodded with understanding and took off, pulling out her cell phone. This was more than a slightly dangerous situation. If they couldn’t get a handle on the evidence, make it disappear or something, the existence of vampires could be confirmed and that would be a disaster for everyone since the King’s plans for that particular announcement weren’t finished yet.


	14. The Truth Comes Out

Stefan wasn’t pleased with the news that Tracy had brought them, but he had known that it was going to happen sooner or later. Dead bodies were getting harder and harder to hide and that was the entire point behind the Purge. “Well, it seems that we’re going public sooner than I thought,” he said. He was standing on the balcony of his hotel room, looking out over the city with Tracy and Nick standing behind him. “Can you delay the investigation somehow until the Purge is complete? Once the Purge is over it won’t be long before the public knows of our existence and Nick can let your captain know why Richard was executed.”

Nick snorted. “Real cases aren’t like on television, Stefan. The Purge will be over long before all of the test results come back, and without identification, those test results won’t mean much. If by some miracle someone does come up with an identification, Richard’s habits are going to be very obvious. That’s what got him put on the Purge list in the first place. Stonetree isn’t going to push for anyone to find a suspect when we’ve got innocent victims coming in that deserve our limited resources more. Richard’s case will get shoved to the back burner and then shunted into the cold cases fairly quickly.”

“And the body?” Stefan sighed.

“Natalie will take care of that….as soon as she’s done playing with it,” Nick said with a grin.

 

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Schanke and Tracy were at their desks going over their files. Richard Blake, multiple staked corpse patient of their favorite coroner, had been identified when one of the guys who regularly transported corpses recognized the body on Nat’s exam table. Apparently the two men had similar tastes in bars. That was all fine and dandy, as Schanke had said – at least until they’d found Blake’s residence. Nick had warned Tracy that Blake had been on the list because he was one of the worst sorts of vampires, but she hadn’t been prepared for the vampire’s bedroom.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Tracy whispered, as she flipped over another photograph.

“Yeah, I hear yah,” Schanke muttered. “Thank God the bastard got all this off the internet. If he’d actually gone out and….”

“He must have gotten caught,” Tracy said. “That’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“Between you, me and the lamppost, I’m sure your right. Good riddance,” Schanke whispered.

“Any leads?” Stonetree wanted to know, coming up behind Schanke.

“Nada, Cap,” Schanke said. “This guy hung out at his bar and his house. Records show he was on some kind of disability. He never talked to the neighbors, only ordered wine at the bar, never picked anyone up that we can find. The only thing that we can find is a whole lot of very sick internet stuff, and that’s all been sent over to computer crimes.”

“Well, hopefully they can figure something out. Send them the rest of the file. The body of a teenaged girl was just found on the waterfront. I want you two on it,” Stonetree ordered.

“Yes, sir!” the two detectives both said, relieved to have another case cross their desks.

Stonetree picked up the files as Tracy and Schanke headed out the door. “Sick bastard got what was coming to him,” the captain muttered, glancing at the top picture. He was glad to be able to turn this case over to someone, anyone else. Let the guys who regularly dealt with the perverts deal with this one.

 

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"I can't!" Vachon exclaimed in a near panic. "There has to be someone else. Toronto is full of vampires right now. There has to be someone older than I am." Vachon couldn't believe that the General leaving left him as Elder for the Toronto Community.

Lucien continued to pack, undeterred by Vachon's frantic attempts to get out of his responsibility. "The only two members of our Community who are older than yourself are Janette and Nicholas. They are both members of the King's Guard. They cannot take any responsibility other than that while the King is here. The others who are visiting are doing just that; visiting. You will be the Elder when I leave at sunset. You WILL do your duty." Lucien wanted there to be no doubt in Vachon's mind that he would enforce certain 'consequences' should Vachon abandon his responsibilities.

"Sir," Vachon tried again. "I can barely take care of my fledglings, fledgling," he corrected himself. Screed's loss still weighed heavily on his heart. It had been his fault that Screed had been a Carouche. He had been so lonely that he had tried to make a fledge when he was barely a fledgling himself. He hadn't known how to do it properly. He had left Screed alone too long and Screed had fed the first hunger on rats instead of the mortal that Vachon had been out trying to get for him. By the time he had gotten back to Screed with the woman that he had found, it was too late.

Vachon had done better with his other fledgling Ursula, or Urs as she wanted to be called now. She was a good vampire but he knew that she was self-destructive and probably wouldn't last much longer, and worse still those two were his successes! He shouldn't be placed in charge of any Community much less this one!

"I shan't be gone long, a year, perhaps two. The King will reside here during that time so I anticipate no problems for you. No one will make trouble while the King is here." Lucien shut his suitcase and turned to the much younger vampire. "You won't actually have to do very much, Vachon. Everyone knows that you will be merely keeping my seat warm for me. Now get out of my way."

Vachon flattened himself against the wall and watched as the General swept out of the room. This was going to be such a big mistake.

 

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Later that night, Stefan and Nick were at the Raven. It had been closed to mortals in order for Stefan to hold public audiences. Janette had set up a couple of large screen televisions to keep those who were waiting entertained. This meant that nearly everyone was watching when the news broke that two Enforcers had been caught chasing down a vampire slated for execution – and it was being broadcast live. Stefan recognized the vampire as Fredrick Torres, a pedophile who would rape his victims before draining them. "SILENCE!" he yelled at the crowd. The last thing he wanted was a panic.

"Nicholas, return to your police station." Nick bowed and swept out of the room. "James," he called to the fledgling near one of the TV's on the wall, "turn that up." Then he leaned back in his chair and reached out along his connection to the two Enforcers. *Do not allow him to escape or harm to come to any mortal. You are on live television. Everyone is watching you. Remember what I said before.* Privately he was grateful that it was these two particular Enforcers who had been caught. The younger one, David, had a particular fondness for police dramas. That would prove useful when they caught their prey and had to deal with the mortals.

In downtown New York City neither Enforcer paused to acknowledge their orders. Already their quarry had shown himself to be a vampire to the crowds, running with his eyes and fangs showing, leaping over obstacles that no mortal could have and even flying at one point. Torres had quickly abandoned that tactic as they had nearly caught him then. He still had a stake stuck in his shoulder from that. Behind them they could hear a reporter babbling but they paid no attention. The reporter was keeping up because the press of the crowd was keeping their speed down. Their prey ran into a large department store, dodging mortals left and right.

No matter how hard Torres ran or how he tried to confuse his pursuers, he couldn't shake them from his trail. They had his scent and Enforcers never gave up. In desperation he snatched a little girl from her mother and threw the child. He had hoped that the Enforcers would let the child die, her head cracked open on the tile covered cement floor. If they did that, then the mortals would mob them and he could make his escape.

The Enforcers did not follow Torres’ desperate plan. They obeyed the orders of their king. To the astonishment of everyone watching, including the police officers who had finally caught up with the three vampires, the two Enforcers split up, one flying up and over the crowd to land on top of their prey. The other flew to catch the child.

With the child in his arms wide eyed in fright and astonishment, David landed next to her mother. 'How did the lines from that show go again? Oh yes,' he thought. "Here you are ma'am. We're sorry we could not have caught him earlier," he said with grave dignity. He was on the king's business. It would not do to act informally.

"You catchded me!" the little girl blurted out. "You flied and chatchded me!" David handed her to her mother and then gave a grave bow to the mother before giving the little girl a smile. He then went and joined his partner, Geoffrey.

"So what did this guy do?" one of the cops asked them.

Geoffrey had hauled their prey off the floor, snarling and still attempting to escape. "Raper of children," Geoffrey snarled. As there was no point in hiding what he was, he didn't bother. He hated pedophiles with a passion and his expression was hard enough to make the experienced cops shiver in dread.

He wasn't the only one who hated pedophiles. "You guys cops?" one uniform asked, hoping the answer was yes.

"We are the King's Enforcers," David said.

"How can we help?" another uniform asked.

"If you could keep the other mortals back? His punishment will be," Geoffrey asked.

"Not something that should be shown on television," David interrupted.

Taking that to meant that the pervert was getting what was coming to him immediately, the uniforms began crowd control. The Enforcers hauled Frederick out of the store and into the alley behind it. The reporters had heard the request but being reporters tried to follow them out into the alley anyway. The police officers stopped the reporters from following. While the cops were just as curious as to what the punishment would be, they understood more than most that there were some things that shouldn't be shown indiscriminately.

A few minutes later they were glad that they had made sure no one followed the vampires into the alley. The cops could see the Enforcers from where they stood guarding the door to the alley. The Enforcers removed Frederick's pants and then his genitals were literally ripped off. The howl of pain echoed in the alley long after Geoffrey stuffed the offending organs into the pervert's mouth. Then they staked him and removed his head before setting him on fire. When the reporter demanded to know what was happening, one of the officers told him. Shaken, they waited until the Enforcers walked over to them. "It is done. He will harm no more children," David said.

"What are you?" the reporter asked, not daring to shove his microphone in the Enforcer's face.

"We are vampires. That one broke the Code, our king's laws. For that his life is forfeit," David said calmly.

"Who is your king?" the reporter asked. "And where does he live?"

"King Stefan is currently staying in Toronto, Canada." Before the reporter could ask another question they left, flying straight up into the night sky.


	15. Reactions

The Morgan family and a few friends had been gathered in Michelle’s new living room, celebrating the fact that they’d finally finished moving Michelle and Stefan into their new Toronto home. David had turned on the television to make certain that all of the connections were working properly and Isabel had set out food so that everyone who had helped with the move, (the furnishings had been done by professional movers, but Michelle’s family had moved everything personal), could get something to eat without needing to move too much.

“Good Lord, Michelle, how did you manage to get so many books?” Becky whined as she flopped down on the couch with a plate full of pizza and garlic knots.

“I’m a lit major, remember?” Michelle laughed as she helped herself to a plate.

“It could have been much worse,” Janette told Becky. “Books may be heavy, but they are compact and do not make a mess unless they are ripped apart.”

“True, it’s her desk that you have to watch out for. Drop one of those boxes and it’ll take days to clean up the mess,” Mark teased.

Laughing the ladies joined Becky on the couch – just in time to see the Enforcer’s chase on the television. Their laughter cut off abruptly as everyone stared at the chase through busy downtown Manhattan. “Oh My God!” Isabel exclaimed as the three year old girl was thrown. She collapsed against the back of the couch in relief as the child was caught and returned to her mother.

It wasn’t until the end of the chase, (and after Torres’ execution), that the only vampire in the room said anything. “I will kill them, slowly – and I’ll get Nicola to help me. I’m certain LaCroix taught him how to appropriately punish someone so monumentally stupid!”

“I don’t think they were,” Michelle told Janette. “The fact that they were executing a pedophile will swing a lot of public opinion in our favor.”

“If they had left it at that I would not be so furious, but they just let the entire world know where his majesty is!” Janette snapped.

“So that’s why you were so concerned about security,” Isabel said. Janette turned, prepared to defend her king, but was astonished to find that Isabel actually looked satisfied. “That makes a lot more sense than wanting to avoid a few hot heads over some business concerns.”

Becky poked Michelle. “So…your prince….was a literal prince,” she snickered. Janette was shocked to see the rest of the family join in with Becky in teasing Michelle about her fiancé being royalty. Not one seemed to be the slightest bit upset over the revelation that Stefan was the King of the Vampires.

Finally Isabel took pity on the vampiress. “Janette, I’m certain that you’ve heard of the Chinese curse, ‘May you live in interesting times’.” Janette nodded, wondering what that had to do with their easy acceptance of any vampire, much less a royal one, into their family. “Our family is under a similar curse. While ‘May your love life be a fairy tale’ does ensure that we find the perfect person for us, it also means that we will be involved in a life threatening situation shortly after meeting them, and there isn’t a guarantee that everyone involved will survive. It’s a crucible, and Stefan and Michelle have already survived theirs. Now, if David and Becky survive meeting their princess and prince, then I can rest easy.”

“This is the reason that my lady studies folk lore?” Janette asked.

“Yes, and the reason that she has a greater chance at taking care of herself in a crisis situation than most people. She’s had hostage, survival, and self-defense training from the time she could walk. Her father and I wanted to ensure that she had every skill that she might need to survive whatever situation the curse might throw at her,” Isabel said with a smile.

“Even becoming the Queen of the Vampires?” Janette asked.

“Yes, even that. After all, if Stefan wasn’t perfect for her, no matter how much she cared about him the curse wouldn’t have kicked in,” Isabel said reasonably.

“But it did, and I managed to stay alive long enough for Stefan to kill Radu, even though I had two vampires trying to kill me,” Michelle pointed out.

Janette’s moment of understanding was interrupted when Rose entered the room. The young vampiress was wearing an elaborate black and purple Victorian gown, and was without her customary clipboard. She made a perfect curtsy to Michelle before hurrying to Janette’s side. “What is it, child?” Janette asked.

“His majesty has increased the number of guards on the house and wanted to be certain that his lady and you were aware of the new developments,” Rose nodded at the television where commentators were currently running their mouths, but not actually saying anything of importance. “As I can see that you have seen the Enforcer’s interview, do you have any further orders for me?”

“I want you to guard Doctor Lambert, Rose,” Michelle said. “I also want you to research all of the current ruling or reigning royal families and the current world leaders. Make a list with details about their countries so we can figure out who we need to send wedding invitations to. Make sure to include the government officials for Romania so that we can tell them that we’re taking control of Prejmar.”

“You think that is wise, my lady?” Janette asked.

At the same time Isabel exclaimed, “It’s going to be a real royal wedding!” stunned at the implications of Michelle’s orders to Rose.

“We need to have undisputed claim to Prejmar and the surrounding area for political reasons,” Michelle told Janette. “And that’s why we need to issue invitations to the wedding. Now that the entire world knows that vampires are actually real and ruled absolutely by a king, we have to act like a real kingdom in the eyes of the world. Which means that if we don’t invite someone that has real political influence on the world stage, it will be an extreme insult, especially since the last royal vampire wedding was nearly five centuries ago. It’s a once in a millennia event, and we can’t afford to excluded anyone of importance, no matter how small the nation,” Michelle sighed.

Janette sighed as well. “His majesty has ordered the Council of Elders to attend the wedding. We have to figure out a way to ensure that the mortals treat them with respect, or I’m certain that someone will disrespect an Ancient and get eaten for the mistreatment.”

“That would be political suicide for everyone involved,” Mark observed.

“Yes, but the Elders are rarely accommodating in situations where they are acknowledged as Elders. They demand respect, and they get it among our own kind,” Janette explained.

“Well, how do you tell these Ancients from everyone else?” David asked.

Janette sighed. “Mortals cannot tell, but we vampires sense one another, and there is no mistaking the feel of an Ancient. Even the youngest fledgling will instinctively be intimidated by an Ancient.”

“How old do you have to be to be considered an Ancient?” Becky asked.

“At least 2000 years old,” Janette said. “My own sire recently joined those ranks.”

“Well, why don’t you include information that age equals rank among vampires in a sort of vampire etiquette guide along with the invitations and then have all the vampires there dress in formal clothes from when they first became vampires. I mean, assuming that the stories are right and vampires used to be regular people, that should date them pretty good, right?” Isabel asked.

Michelle and Janette looked at each other. That could work.

 

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By the time Nick got down to the police station, the chase was on every channel and being shown on every television set in the building. He hadn't bothered to hide the fact that his burns had healed completely because by the time that this night was over the entire world would know once more that vampires existed.

"Nick, good to see you," Stonetree said as he sat down next to Schanke and Tracy. "My god, would you look at that," he breathed as the Enforcers jumped over a semi-truck that had gotten between them and their quarry.

"That can't be real," David Parker said bewildered. He was a detective with Robbery. "Oh yes it can and yes it is," his partner said. "That is live tv, no fakes, no special effects, nadda, zip, zilch."

"Five bucks says they catch him," said the daytime desk sergeant. He'd been delayed leaving the station and was hanging out in Homicide. Gossip said that the reason he hung out down at the station so much was to avoid his daughter's wedding plans.

"Sucker bet!" called many of the detectives, including Nick and Schanke. "There is no way he's getting away from them," Schanke went on.

By the time the chase came to its violent conclusion, the majority of the Toronto Police Department was firmly on the side of the Enforcers, not necessarily vampires in general, but the Enforcers at least; but when the Enforcers said that the King of the Vampires was living in Toronto, everyone started talking at once. Just as it started to devolve into a mob divided between 'vampires are monsters' and ‘those two looked like good guys to me' Tracy piped up. "I don't know what you're freaked out about Frakes; it isn't like they didn't exist two hours ago or last week for that matter."

"What are you talking about, Vetter?" the upset cop snarled.

"None of you know any facts about vampires other than they really exist. I've known about them for almost a year now and I know a lot more about them than you do. Now are you going to act like cops or are you going to act like a mob over a bunch of horror stories?" Tracy got right into Frakes face.

"What's to know? They kill people to drink their blood. Even if they're ripping each other to pieces they're still murderers!" he said, bewildered that there was even a discussion.

"Like I said, horror stories, and even more importantly facts taken out of context. Why are you applying 20th century morality to people who were committing the acts in the 14th? Up until this century there were always groups of people who weren't considered human. Those people are the ones vampires have traditionally hunted. Also, up until the medical breakthrough of blood donations the only choice a vampire had was hunt or starve to death unless they were high enough in rank to be fed by the King. That option has only been available for the past 500 years. Don't expect vampires to be better than everyone around them." Tracy knew the next argument Frakes would come up with. Schanke and Nick just looked amused. Their rookie was up in points.

"Why can't they drink animal blood?" Frakes thought that he had the rookie.

"Some do, they're called Carouche. You see a vampire's diet is VERY species specific. The first meal a vampire has sets the vampire's taste buds and dictates both what the healthiest meal will be and how that vampire thinks. Vampires are biologically set up to hunt. What they hunt is determined by that first meal. The best hunters are those that think like their prey," Tracy paused but Frakes just looked blank.

Tracy sighed and shook her head. "Look I knew the Elder of the Carouche here in Toronto before the recent epidemic killed him. His prey was rats. Screed could drink human blood but he didn't like it. He lived in the sewers, he dressed like a homeless person and he thought like a rat. He couldn't plan for the future. He couldn't conceive of getting a job and it was a miracle that he survived as long as he did. He was that way because his master was barely a fledgling himself and got the timing wrong. Most Carouche are created because of mistakes. They're considered the retarded second class of the vampire communities."

"He didn't like human blood but he could drink it?" Schanke asked.

"It's like the difference between a gourmet meal and one of those nutritional drinks. Screed loved his squeekers. I bought him five pet store rats for his conversion day last year. He said it was the best present he'd ever had." Tracy looked sad. She missed the scrawny English sailor. "Now any vampire can go to the Elder of his or her community and get bottled blood. They have to pay for it of course, but like anyone else most vampires would rather buy their groceries than go hunt for it."

“Then why do you have cow blood in your fridge?” Schanke whispered to Nick. “It can’t taste that great.”

“I was trying to dull the connection between me and LaCroix,” he whispered back.

“Makes sense,” Schanke muttered, before turning back to the department’s interrogation of their rookie.

"So if a vampire wanted to keep the ability to think like a human, they'd need to drink human blood for their first meal?" Stonetree asked Tracy.

"Yes sir," she said.

"Ok, starve or eat is self-defense but what about now? What happens if a vampire decides to snack on someone now?" Frakes wanted to know.

"Vampires have laws the same way we do. They're collectively called the Code and every vampire and Carouche have to follow it. If a vampire violates the Code the Enforcers go after them. You've seen the results of that." Tracy turned to Natalie, who had been hiding in the corner of the room with Rose. "Nat, how many of your customers in the last year could have been killed by vampires?"

Natalie was startled to suddenly be in the spot light but she and Nick had already talked about what the King wanted if the truth about the existence of vampires came out. She turned to face the crowd. "First you have to understand that I've known about vampires for a few years now. I had a patient wake up on my table after he tried to stop a robbery and caught a pipe bomb for his trouble.  When I've suspected that one of my patients has been killed by a vampire I've turned those cases over to Nick. He either finds and deals with the perp himself, or calls in the Enforcers and they deal with the situation. You already know how they deal with those who break the Code." she waved at the tv and most of the officers were nodding in satisfaction even as they looked like they were going to puke.

"Well I'd say that there have been no more than ten victims in the past year that I can positively identify as vampire kills. Those murders were committed by four vampires, one of whom was very disturbed mentally. I'm not even sure that she knew what she was, much less that she could live on bottled blood. Of the other three, two didn't care that murder is against the Code and the third was actually a case of self-defense as the person she ate was trying to stake her at the time." She shrugged, "I think that statistically speaking, I get more vampires as patients then vampire victims."

"You treat vampires? But they aren't human!" Frakes said aghast.

"Actually I proved that they were human two years ago when I found the virus that causes vampirism," Natalie said calmly. The last thing that she wanted was for that particular thought to get going. “And if you want further proof, as Tracy said, the Community here in Toronto was recently devastated by a viral epidemic, a fatal one. Now, if they really were just monsters or undead bloodsuckers out of a vampire film they wouldn’t have gotten sick and died from a kind of flu virus.”

"Are you sure about that Nat?" Stonetree asked hopeful.

"Positive Joe, it took me two years of looking but I found the virus when I managed to get a blood sample under the sort of microscope that they use to look at DNA. I started looking into the medical causes of the condition because I found it fascinating. That so small an organism can have such a profound effect on the human body, not just make it ill or weaken it, but to almost completely change a person’s physiology blew my mind. I just had to figure it out,” Natalie said.

“What about this epidemic. Did you get sick?’ Stonetree asked Nick. The half of the department who had been arguing for ‘Vampires are monsters!’ crowd suddenly looked sheepish or shocked. None of them had realized that their sunlight challenged detective was a vampire. The half that had been arguing for the ‘those looked like good guys to me’ merely looked expectantly at Nick. “Did it affect anyone who wasn’t a vampire?”

“Yes I did get sick, but I wasn’t the worst off fortunately. You see, among vampires sharing blood, either as a meal or directly, is how we strengthen the ties among Community members, so when we get sick, it means that pretty much everyone in that Community gets sick,” Nick explained. “And the virus in question only affected vampires. It didn’t do a thing to mortals.”

“Huh,” Stonetree said.


End file.
